Unbelievable Chances
by FedoraLover23
Summary: Daryl was separated from his wife and Daughter when the Zombie apocalypse happened, he thinks that they are both dead and that he's a broken and lost man. But they are alive and are trying to make their way to him. Daryl/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or story line of the Walking Dead, i am tweaking it a bit but sadly not mine. I would love to own it or at lease be in it for the whole Daryl awesomeness but sadly not possible

A/N: Hey all this is my first walking dead story i hope you all like it. Iwas starting a different one but then i came up with this idea and it flowed so much better. So Enjoy and i appreciate reviews.

Summary: Daryl was separated from his wife when the Zombie apocalypse happened, he thinks that they are both dead and that he's a broken and lost man. But they are alive and are trying to make their way to him. Daryl/OC.

Chapter One

Not everyone was meant to survive the zombie apocalypse; some people were survivors and knew how to make it in the new world while others weren't so lucky and eventually became the undead's food. Some people, the survivalists and hunters of the world could adapt, accept what happened and survive in the new undead infested world but the regular people usually didn't survive very long unless they were incredibly lucky or met up with the right kind of people. Otherwise there's no way that a majority of people would have survived in the new world, not with how things are now.

When the apocalypse happened many people were separated; they were separated from their friends and families without any way of contacting them and telling them that they were okay and alive. When shit hit the fan many people had been in the wrong place at the wrong time; some were vacationing, having a road trip or even visiting family who lived far away. No matter the reason a lot of people were separated.

That is exactly what happened to Natalie Dixon and her daughter Marlie. Natalie and Marlie had left Georgia and drove out to Arizona to visit Natalie's grandparents who lived about an hour outside of Phoenix; Natalie's husband Daryl was going to join up with them in a day or two after him and his brother Merle finished a construction job that they were doing. But things didn't pan out that way, the world ended and Natalie had no way to contact Daryl anymore. Natalie and Marlie have been through hell just trying to get from Arizona to Georgia – one way or another they were going to find Daryl.

"Mama?"

Natalie turned from looking out of their tent at the forest to her six year old daughter Marlie and smiled at her gently, "Yes Lil' Darlin'?" she asked as she moved further into the tent and sat down on the sleeping bags she had.

Marlie took a deep breath and looked at her mom with a resolved face, "Is daddy dead like those creepy people eatin' things?" she asked as serious as she could for a six year old.

"No, No way." Natalie said convincingly. "Your daddy is not one of those biters; if anyone is made to be able survive something like this it's definitely your dad. He's a hunter and a survivor." She told her and wrapped her arms around her daughter comfortingly.

"What 'bout uncle Merle?" Marlie asked quietly.

At that Natalie gave a small laugh, "Uncle Merle is still alive too, he was the one who taught dad some of the things he knows. Those two are still alive, I know it. Dixon's don't die easy." She told her with a pointed look and leaned over and kissed Marlie's forehead. "Side's uncle Merle probably scared off all of those biters with that bad mouth of his." She said to her.

Marlie giggled and looked up at her mom, "You and Daddy say bad words too." She said to her.

"Traitor," Natalie said with a half-smile on her face. "You're supposed to be on my side not your uncles." She told her. "Besides your daddy and I are much better than Merle any day.

Marlie nodded, "I know." She said to her and then reached across the tent and grabbed her colors and coloring book. "I'm gonna color a picture for Daddy and uncle Merle. I wanna show 'em that I missed 'em whole bunches." Marlie told her.

That made Natalie smile, "I'm sure they'd love that." She told her.

After Natalie said that both she and Marlie just sat n comfortable silence, Marlie coloring a picture for her dad and her uncle and Natalie was enjoying watching her daughter and knowing that she was safe with her which was something she wished she could say for Daryl. What Natalie had said to Marlie was true, she knew without a doubt that Daryl and Merle were still alive – this new world, this zombie infested world was something that the two brothers were made for. They were hunters, trackers, fighters and survivors. They can overcome anything that is thrown at them without blinking an eye. But just because she knew they were alive doesn't mean that Natalie isn't worried, she would rather see them face to face to know that they are alright and alive rather than depending on what she knew of them.

"Mama?" Marlie asked again.

"Yes'm?" Natalie responded and looked down at her daughter.

Marlie stopped coloring for a few moments, "I'm hungry." She told her.

"Let's see what we got to eat," Natalie said and grabbed one of the few bags they had and dug through it.

For the last twoish weeks that they have been traveling through the southern states their food supply has gone drastically, especially after Natalie and Marlie were attacked which was only a few days ago. Sadly not everyone is nice in the apocalyptic world, people are greedy, selfish and aren't against attacking other people for supplies- not even people who have kids. If Natalie wouldn't have fought back and eventually killed those three men she knew without a fact she would either have been raped or killed if not both. One of the men was very close to succeeding in raping Natalie but Marlie used her arrow gun to stun the guy long enough for Natalie to gain the upper hand.

"Here," Natalie said and handed Marlie a peanut butter granola bar. "Eat this and then we are going to bed. We have an early day tomorrow." She told her with a pointed look.

Marlie groaned, "I don't like peanut butter." She said recognizing the package.

Hearing that Natalie laughed, Marlie was definitely taking after her. "I know, I don't either but you need to eat and keep your strength up so that we can keep on moving and find daddy. I need you to eat this and keep on being a big girl, I need someone to watch my back when it's just me and you." She said to her.

"So I can save you from bad guys like I did last time?" Marlie asked her.

Natalie grimaced but nodded, "Yes Marlie so you can save me from bad guys and from the biters. Okay?" she asked looking at her intently.

With a sigh Marlie nodded and opened the granola bar and took a reluctant bite, "Yes mama." She said to her. "Are you gonna eat too?" she asked.

"Nah, not right now." Natalie told her with a tight smile. "I ate earlier when you were taking a nap."

For the last few days Natalie has been giving up food so that Marlie could eat more, she ate enough to keep going but not enough to keep her from feeling as if her stomach was going to eat itself. They needed to either find some place with food or go hunting, Natalie was nowhere being the best hunter but she wasn't terrible – Daryl and Merle taught her what they knew and some of the stuff did stick even if she was a reluctant learning all those years ago.

"I love you mama," Marlie said to Natalie as she leaned up and kissed her mom on the cheek. "We'll find daddy soon and then we can be a family again." She told her and then crawled over to her sleeping bag and laid out on it.

"I know," Natalie whispered and then soon joined her daughter on the sleeping bags, not that she was planning on getting much sleep.

Traveling alone with your daughter makes a mother cautious and wary, Natalie has barely slept since everything happened and she didn't trust herself to sleep for very long as it was. There were too many dangerous things out in the world; the dead and living alike. Natalie refused to let herself get comfortable and get her daughter and herself killed.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Few hours later: Natalie & Marlie's camp ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Mama. Mama wake up. Mommy please!"

Natalie was groggily woken up by the sound of her daughter's terrified whisper, blinking a bit she opened her eyes to look at Marlie's frightened face. It took Natalie a few moments but she soon realized what had her daughter scared, she could hear the noises of the can's she had strung up a few feet around their tent – a warning system to let them know that biters were trying to get to them, and the tell-tale sounds of moans of the undead.

"Damn it!" Natalie swore and quickly grabbed her boots and tugged them on over her sockless foot, she then turned to look at Marlie. "Do you have your arrow gun?" she asked.

Marlie nodded without a word and pulled it out and held it tightly to her chest.

Natalie nodded, "Good, keep it out and keep it aimed up, one of them gets in here aim at the head." She told her seriously and grabbed her gun and black coconut knife that looked like a mini-machete. "Stay here until I come back for you. I love you." She said to her before unzipping the tent and quickly zipping it back before looking out into the dark woods.

There was a biter about three or four feet from her struggling around the strings of cans, but she could tell it wasn't the only one. Glancing around quickly she saw one heading towards the tent and then another one a bit farther behind the one struggling with the cans.

"Hey!" Natalie said gaining the attention of the one that was closing in on the tent her daughter was in. "Come and get me you bastard." She said as she slowly tried to lure the biter farther away from the tent.

The biter cocked his head a bit and headed towards Natalie, snarling with its arms outstretched towards her just waiting to take a bit out of her luscious flesh. Yeah, Natalie was definitely not going to let that happen. She was not in the mood to become the undead's damn happy meal.

"Fucking ugly ass Biter, I ain't dying today!" she said as she kicked at it and slashed her knife at it but only resulted it her cutting its arm almost all the way in half – it was barely hanging on.

Natalie was about to make another move to attack it when she was grabbed from behind, she gave a slight scream and crouched down and used her body weight to throw the thing off of her. Once it was on the ground she stomped on its head but it was still moving and grabbing at her, she jumped away from it and quickly kicked the other one that was still coming at her and trying to grab at her to pull her towards its mouth.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Natalie yelled and rolled away from the both of them and finally stuck her mini-machete into the back of its head effectively killing it.

Before she was even able to take a breath she heard the growls of the other two biters, turning around Natalie chopped the other one right down the middle of the head – she was not in the mood to mess around. The last Biter, an older woman who seemed to have back problems, maybe even before she ended up as the undead steadily made her way towards Natalie.

"Fuck off!" Natalie said before she did a roundhouse kick to the old Biters stomach making her fall to the ground and then impaled her knife into the woman's face.

Sighing Natalie looked down at herself and groaned, her pj's were covered in biter blood and brain matter and she had no idea where the nearest river or stream or lake even was; Georgia she would have known where a majority of the water resources were but not Alabama.

"Mommy?" Marlie cried from within the tent. "Mommy are you okay?"

"Yeah Marlie, I'm fine." Natalie said as she wiped her knife off on the bottom of her useless pj's, at least she had more than just the one pair otherwise she would have to sleep in jeans and t-shirts until they find Daryl.

Marlie ran out of the tent and was about to run to her mother but stopped when she saw that she was covered in blood, "They got you mommy!" she said as tears started to form in her eyes.

Hearing that Natalie shook her head at her daughter, "Mar I promise you they didn't get me, all of this blood is theirs not mine. I'm fine." She told her soothingly.

"Oh." Marlie said in response to that.

"I need you to go back in the tent and stay there, I need to clean this up and get changed." Natalie told her.

For a moment it looked as if Marlie was about to argue but she thought better of it and nodded and went back into the tent but she sat near the opening and watched her mother. She wanted to keep her in her sights.

After about thirty to forty minutes Natalie had finally cleaned everything up, she dragged the bodies of the dead out of camp and a bit away but close enough so Marlie could yell for help if she needed it and then left the bodies there. Once she finished with the body clean up Natalie stripped from her ruined Pj's, cleaned up with some of the bottled water they had and put a pair of jeans on, a spaghetti strap shirt, a tank top and then an unbuttoned bright yellow and black plaid tunic shirt that reached to just below her hips and sleeves that were 3/4th length. After the Biter's arrived at Camp Natalie knew she wouldn't be able to sleep for the rest of the night and figured she might as well just stay up and keep watch and try and make a plan for where they should head to once they make it into Georgia.

Natalie wanted to head to her and Daryl's house but she realized that it would be stupid, she doubted that Daryl would even be there – he and Merle would probably have left for the refugee centers like she and her grandparents had done before it was obvious they weren't going to make it to them and took shelter somewhere else.

God, Natalie missed Daryl more than ever – he was her rock, her strength, her support and everything. It's been hell being away from him for so long and not even being able to hear his voice. She just hoped that they would be reunited soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The Walking Dead is not mine i just use my love of writing to make a creative story

A/N: Hope you guys like this so far, i'm ejoying writing i4t and well please review to let me know what you think.

Chapter two

It's been almost three weeks since Merle and Daryl and this group of survivors decided to band together and make camp at the quarry that was just outside of Atlanta. Those weeks have been hell for Daryl, no doubt about it. All he wanted was his wife and daughter but that was impossible now, as far as he knew they were dead.

Daryl was sitting in a chair outside of his tent in front of the small fire he made and was eating dinner by himself, Merle was who knows fucking where, more than likely out in the woods doing whatever drug it was that he felt like doing. Daryl really wasn't in the mood to care what his brother was doing.

He glanced over at the main campfire where a majority of the campers were; they were all eating, talking and joking around but not one of them even had the courage or nerve to approach him and thank him for the food that he had hunted down for the camp to eat. Within the first week the food that everyone brought and thought would last a while was basically gone and none of the other survivors really knew how to hunt, so it was up to Merle and Daryl to hunt and feed themselves and everyone else. Do they show any gratitude for what the brothers did, did they say thanks…..no, none of them did, not even Shane who supposedly kept everything in 'order' so to say. The majority of the survivors are selfish, city fold, a good portion of whom don't even know how to use a damn gun let alone hunt for their own food.

"Fuckin' hell." Daryl scoffed to himself and tossed his plate to the ground making the group look at him and he just scowled.

Ignoring everyone else Daryl put out the small fire he head and went into his tent and zipped it close. He wasn't in the mood to see everyone acting as if nothing has happened to the world and mostly, he just wanted to be alone.

Daryl kicked off his booths, tugged his shirt and pants off and collapsed onto his sleeping bag. Grabbing his bag that was resting in the corner of the tent he pulled out a picture from one of the pockets – it was a picture from a couple months ago, an engagement party for one of Natalie's friends.

Daryl had actually worn a suit and everything, something that he didn't even do when the two of them got married, not that Natalie minded.

Running his finger across his wife and daughter's images Daryl sighed; Natalie was short, barely topping five foot two or five foot three, she was a curvy woman which he liked because she could take the rougher sex and actually preferred that over the softer love making. Natalie was pale but over the years has gained a slight tan from living in Georgia for so long and being outside all of the time, she had deep, dark brown eyes that Daryl could get lost in and she had long curly blonde hair that never did what Natalie wanted it to. Whenever Natalie's picture was being taken it always seemed as if she was smirking and had some sort of trouble planned – only close friends and family got the true smile.

His daughter Marlie though, she was his little demonic angel. Marlie had his blue eyes, but was pale just like her mom was and had Natalie's curly hair; the color though was more like Daryl's dark blonde/light brown color than Natalie's light blonde. Marlie was a petite little thing and loved life and had a smile that took up half of her face.

Blinking his eyes Daryl put the picture back into his bag, closed his eyes and hoped for a good night's sleep, something that he hasn't had since he lost Natalie and Marlie. Not since the last phone call he had with her before all types of communication stopped.

~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~

"_**Damn it Nat, pick up the fucking phone!" Daryl yelled into the phone as he and Merle were driving towards Atlanta, towards the refugee center. **_

_**Merle looked over at his younger brother, "Calm bro, she's probably in the shower or packin' her shit up too. I'm sure 'Zona is doin' the same thing as we are." He told him, his attempt at half ass comforting. **_

_**In response to that Daryl glared at his brother, "merle just shut up." He growled out to him.**_

"_**Hey don't take it out on me Daryl. I'm tryin' to be nice for once." Merle said to him with a shrug.**_

"_**Not fuckin' helping, just…just shut up okay." Daryl said as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. **_

_**Just as Merle was about to respond to that Daryl's phone started to ring, some metal band that Natalie had assigned as Daryl's ringtone for her. **_

"_**Natalie!" Daryl said frantically as he answered the phone. "Where are ya? Are ya and Marlie okay?" he asked desperately. **_

_**Never in his life had he ever sounded so emotional and he wouldn't ever admit it but he had never been so scared in his life. Not with all of the shit he went through with his dad, but Natalie not answering her phone and the fact of what exactly is going on in the world right now – he was fucking terrified. **_

"_**Daryl," natalei said on the other line in relief. "Yeah, we're both fine. We're alive and fine. They evacuated us from my grandparent's house to phoenix but we can't make it to the refugee center. It's too packed." She told him.**_

_**Hearing that Daryl's throat constricted in fear for his wife and daughter, he saw the news and knew what kind of people were out there now. "Where are ya at?" he asked her. **_

"_**Near Phoenix, we're all holed up in some motel right now and are going to wait awhile and then try and make our way into Phoenix." Natalie told him. "Stay for a while and then head out and make my way back to Georgia." She stated.**_

"_**Nat-"**_

"_**No Daryl I'm coming one way or another, I'm not staying here without you. We need you." Natalie told him seriously. "Marlie and I need you." She told him.**_

_**Daryl sighed at that, "Okay. Are ya protected?" he asked her. **_

_**It seemed Natalie hesitated for a few moments which worried Daryl.**_

"_**Nat?" Daryl questioned as he was cut off by a damn RV. **_

"_**All I have is a knife, not even that good of one but it's going to have to do." She responded to him. "It's not like I can go out and buy a hunting knife." Natalie said to him. **_

_**When she said that Daryl groaned, "Just be safe Natalie, I ain't in the mood to try and get out of this damn mother fuckin' traffic jam and hunt your ass down in Phoenix. Too fucking dry and hot there and big." He said to her.**_

_**He heard Natalie laugh, "Okay, noted Daryl. Nothing is gonna happen to me ya mean redneck." She said to him.**_

"_**Whatever ya crazy yankee." He joked back.**_

_**Merle laughed, "Seriously, ya two are flirtin' like teenagers over the phone who ain't ever seen porn before." He said with a shake of his head. **_

_**Just as Daryl was about to say something to Natalie there was the sound of glass breaking over the phone, and a scream that sounded an awful lot like Marlie. "Nat, what's going on?" Daryl asked. "Nat fuckin' answer me woman." **_

"_**Mother fucker, they're here." Natalie answered frantically. "Marlie, get over here." Natalie yelled. "Right now!" **_

"_**Natalie!" Daryl yelled again. "Tell me what's going on." **_

_**Before Daryl could say anything he heard the phone drop and Natalie yelling, "I am not food you fucking stupid ass inbreds." She screamed and there was the sound of a struggle. "Shit, no you stupid fucking bitches. Don't you dare touch me. I am going to-" **_

_**With that the phone went dead, "No!" Daryl yelled out and immediately tried calling Natalie back, he did it three or four times in a row but it went directly to voicemail each time. "No, no, no. Fuck no!" he screamed in anguish. **_

"_**What the hell bro?" merle asked, staring at his younger brother who was yelling and if he didn't know brother was starting to cry, not that he would ever mention it to him. **_

"_**Natalie, we were talkin' and then something broke into the motel they were stayin' at. Said it was those dead people." Daryl said as calm as he couch, which really wasn't that calm at all. "I heard a scream and her strugglin' with them, and then I heard Marlie scream. I…I think they were got by them." He said. "I..I fuck. No." he said not making any sense anymore. **_

_**For a moment Merle was in shock, he didn't know what ot think or say to his brother. He's known Natalie for almost ten years now, she and Daryl have been together since Natalie was twenty-two or twentythree and he's basically the one that gave them the push to get their act together and get their sex on. Natalie's family, even before Daryl and her got married.**_

"_**Are ya sure, I mean maybe the-" **_

"_**I'm fucking sure Merle." Daryl growled in anger, he knew his brother didn't deserve that reaction when he's just trying to help and not be a somewhat ass hole for once but Daryl can't deal with it right now. "They were attacked and Natalie barely had a good working knife, it sounded like there was more than one dead thing there." **_

_**Merle closed his eyes and slammed is fist against the door, "Daryl I'm…I-"**_

_**Daryl nodded, "Yeah, just….I can't talk right now. I can't." he said to him. **_

"_**Got it bro." Merle said and then shut up for a long while after that.**_

~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~~_

Daryl woke with a start, and looked around and saw that he was in his tent at the quarry. Sighing Daryl ran his hands through his hair and just sat there for a long while just thinking about everything that has happened, every night no matter what he would have that dream/memory about the last phone call he ever had with Natalie. He was living a nightmare, a life without Natalie and a life without Marlie – someday he thought of just ending it and joining Natalie and Marlie in death but he realized that was the coward's way out and then there would be no one to keep Merle's ass out of trouble.

Sighing again Daryl got dressed in a dirty and stained pair of pants, a sleeveless plaid shirt and then his leather vest with the angel wings on the back, he then pulled his boots on and grabbed his crossbow before exiting his tent.

It was still early but it was late enough in the day that there were people shuffling around camp getting ready for the day and chores that needed to be done.

"Good morning Daryl," Amy, the blonde nineteen year old sister of Andrea.

Daryl gave her a dark look, "What's so damn good 'bout it?" he asked rhetorically and stalked his way through camp.

Amy looked at him, "Geeze, no need to be a grouch. Just trying to make the best of our situation." She said to him.

"Ain't nothing good here," Daryl said with a shake of his head. "World ended girl, ain't nothing been good or is gonna be good for a long time." He said to her and stalked over to the main fire and grabbed a bit of whatever it was they were calling breakfast – beans and some green things.

Amy rolled her eyes at Daryl and started to serve up some dishes to the few people who were still awake, no matter what was said to Daryl he always seemed to be angry and in a bad mood. Both he and Merle had tempers but Daryl was just in a constant bad mood and never changed, at least Merle went from being creepy, to perverted, to weird, to happy and then to a racist ass.

Walking over to where his tent was, a ways away from the rest of the camp Daryl sat down and ate the sad excuse of a breakfast – he missed mornings back at his house with Natalie and Marlie. Getting up early in the mornings and having breakfast with his two favorite girls, and sometimes Merle would come over and invite himself to breakfast.

"Baby brother!"

Speak of the devil and they shall appear, Daryl glanced behind him and saw Merle emerging from the woods and plopping himself down on a chair besides Daryl.

Daryl just glared at Merle, "What?" he asked him as he was eating.

"Ain't you a happy sight." Merle said to him sarcastically.

"What's there to be happy about?" he responded with a shrug, "Ain't got Natalie here, and I ain't got Marlie. What should I be happy about Merle?" he asked him.

When Daryl said that Merle leaned back in the camping chair, today was definitely not a day to bother Daryl or really talk with him. Some days for Daryl were better than the others, some days he could somewhat deal with the fact that Natalie and Marlie were gone and others he could barely deal to be around people and would head out to the woods saying he was going hunting but really just wanted to be alone. Merle might be family to him, be his brother and be his blood but Natalie, Natalie was his light, his life, his reason to try and make himself better. Once he lost Natalie and Marlie his one sliver of happiness was gone – he didn't see the point of bettering himself if Natalie and Marlie weren't around anymore.

"Goin' huntin' be back tonight." Daryl said gruffly as he stood up and sheathed his knife, put his gun in its rightful place on his belt and swung his crossbow and arrows over his shoulder.

Merle looked at his brothers retreating back, "Ya ain't gonna go and do soemthin' stupid are ya?" he called after him.

In response to that Daryl looked back at him with a glare, "Nah, she wouldn't want that." He said with slumped shoulders and continued on his way into the forest.

Sometimes Merle knew he was an asshole and not the best brother he could have been to Daryl when they were kids and growing up with their alcoholic and abusive father, but the thing with Natalie and Marlie put things in perspective. He wasn't showing it in obvious ways but he was trying to help his brother, he was trying to ask him if he was alright in his own unique way. It may not be the nicest way and it might be blunt and to the point, but at least he was asking and making sure that Daryl wasn't going to kill himself or go off searching for a horde of Walkers to kill him.

Daryl wasn't the only one who missed Natalie and Marlie; Merle may be an ass and crude and racist but he loved those girls more than any woman that he's ever known. Natalie was the little sister he never got, the one who got so far under your skin that you would never be able to get rid of her. At times Natalie could be sweet and caring, and then other times she could be painfully blunt and uncaring if it was what you needed to hear. She wasn't afraid of saying what needed to be said – no matter how intimidating or how much a person yelled she wouldn't back down. It was something that Merle admired in the woman, he was proud to call her family.

Marlie, Marlie was at first this small little thing that cried all of the time and Merle was scared to death to hold her, not that he would admit it to anyone, but he was. The only baby he had ever been around was Daryl and their mom wouldn't let Merle hold him when he had been born. Marlie was his partner in crime, his little dove and if she asked him to play tea time he damn well would without a complaint. She had him wrapped around her finger.

Today was definitely not going to be a good day for either Daryl or Merle, reminiscing about the people they missed but knew were gone.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Natalie & Marlie ~_~_~_~_~_~_~TWD _~_~_~_~_~_~

The early morning light shined through the trees in the forest shining right into the eyes of a young Marlie Dixon. Squinting, she glanced over at her mom who at the moment was staring down at the ground near a rather large tree.

"Mama?" Marlie asked as she carefully stepped over a rather large log. "What are we doing?"

Natalie looked back at her daughter who was rubbing at her eyes, she was not used to being up so early in the morning but Natalie knew it was better to go in the morning than later in the day.

"We, my dear," Natalie said as she walked away from the tree. "Are tracking…well we're trying to track." She admitted and ran her hands through her long hair; she really would kill for a hair tie right now.

When Natalie said that Marlie giggled, "We need daddy don't we?" Marlie asked her with a smile and walked closer to her mom and at the tree she had been staring at intently.

At that Natalie gave a small smile, "Yeah, I can't track as good as he can or really at all but I'm trying." She told her and grabbed her hand and led her further into the woods. "I am trying to remember everything your uncle and dad taught me about tracking but it was never in my skillset." She said to her and readjusted her recurve bow.

Marlie hummed to herself and looked up at her mom, "Well when we can find daddy he can track for us then." She said simply as if that answered all of the world's problems.

"Exactly," Natalie said with a soft smile.

Right now Natalie was kind of regretting not paying closer attention to what Daryl had taught her about tracking animals; she just couldn't help it she was too impatient for tracking and well she was shit at telling the difference between animal tracks and the places where rocks and sticks had fallen. She remembered a time when she thought she found a track but Merle had rained on her parade said it was just a rock or even where a stick had been stuck in the ground . . . the stick was a few feet away from their spot.

"I remember the first time your dad took me out hunting and tracking," Natalie said with a small grin on her face as she concentrated on the ground, keeping her daughter safe and watching out for Biters.

"Yeah?" Marlie said with a tone of excitement. "Did he teach you lots of stuff?" she asked.

Natalie couldn't help but laugh a bit, "He complained at me the whole time, and had a scowl on his face. I was never much for the outdoors, I liked to climb trees and I liked to go out shooting but hunting and tracking was never something I tried much. Your grandma taught me some but never really went in depth." She said off hand and then crouched down to the ground and looked at the leaves and mud, it looks like it might be a rabbit track.

"I was twenty-two, your dad was twenty-five and we had been together for about three or four months." Natalie said with a smile. "He wanted to take me camping and show me what it was like to be a true southerner – I think he just wanted me to be more like a redneck like he was instead of those silly stuck up hoity toity southern belle's." she said offhand which made Marlie giggle. "I can be quiet sometimes but traveling through the woods at the pace your dad set, well it was quite an interesting experience. I got in the way a bit, he yelled at me – nothing serious but just in annoyance. Halfheartedly called me a stupid Yankee." She told her.

Hearing that Marlie looked at her mom, "What's a Yankee. Ya never telled me what it meant." She said to her.

"Yankee mean's someone who's from the northern states," Natalie explained. "I was born in Minnesota and lived there until I moved down to Georgia." She stated. "After the first day of him complaining I may have started to make a few mistakes on purpose just to annoy him and see what he would do, he didn't know I was doing it at first but after the third day he did." She smiled. "It was near the last few days of our hunting trip and we were tracking – well he was tracking a deer, I had my bow and was watching the deer and it was in my sight and before your daddy could say anything I shot it."

"You got it?" Marlie asked.

Natalie nodded, "Yup, I got it. The look of shock on your dad's face was priceless. He didn't think I could shoot that well since I never went hunting before, but I knew how to shoot a bow just not how to hunt." She said to her. "He then showed me how to skin the animal and prepare the meat. After doing all of that with him, I was covered from head to toe in blood and he told me I was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen before."

That made Marlie giggle, "Daddy's silly." She said to her.

"He is but I felt beautiful when he said that and it was oddly romantic in your dad's weird kind of way." Natalie said and looked back with a grin.

Marlie just smiled at her mom, she hoped that they would be able to find her dad real soon and her uncle Merle she missed being with all of her family. She wanted her dad; he gave the best hugs and kisses ever and told the silliest and funniest bed time stories ever. He had cool battle stories with a warrior princess saving the day and her mom told stories about a girlie princess but a strong hearted one. The few times Uncle Merle told her bed time stories they never made sense, but he did voices so it was okay that they didn't make sense. He tried.

"Ma-"

Before Marlie could even say much of the work her mom quieted her with a finger to her lips and then pointed at a tree, Marlie saw a bunny that was brownish/tan but she knew from the way her mom was holding the bow that they were going to kill it. When her mom first started doing this she cried over the animal but now she knew that they needed to eat and who knows when they will get fresh meat again.

Natalie repositioned carefully pulled an arrow out of her quiver and notched it onto her bow and took aim, she breathed in and out and then after counting to three she let the arrow soar and it hit the rabbit.

Grinning to herself, Natalie stood up and looked at her daughter, "We got breakfast." She said and the two strolled over to the tree and released the arrow and the rabbit. "Looks like a fatty, maybe he'll have some extra meat on his bones for us to eat." Natalie said as she lifted the rabbit by the ears.

"Poor yummy rabbit." Marlie said with a frown.

That made Natalie chuckle, "Yeah, poor rabbit." She said and grabbed it by the ears, swung her recurve bow over her shoulders and then grabbed Marlie's hand. "Come on let's get back to camp, eat and then get on the road. We're only about an hour's drive away from Georgia."

With that said Marlie grinned to herself and was basically skipping besides her mom, the thought that they were so close to Georgia meant that they were that much closer to seeing her daddy and that much closer to being a family again – they won't ever be separated again.

Once back at camp Natalie didn't hesitate before she took out one of her smaller knives and started to get the rabbit ready to be cooked, it's been so long since she and Marlie have been able to get their hands on actual meat – meat that wasn't dried or something out of a can like tuna. Fresh meat. If only her family back home could see her now, or even before the apocalypse. They would have never believed that she could skin an animal with the best of them.

Starting a fire Natalie quickly threw a pan over the fire, put the rabbit in there and tossed some seasonings that she managed to grab from a grocery store in a smaller town and waited for the meat to cook. Compared to what she and Marlie have been eating, the rabbit will be like Filet Mignon.

"Mommy?" Marlie asked.

"Yes Marlie," Natalie responded.

Marlie looked at her mom hesitantly, not sure how to bring the subject up. "How come you and daddy don't ever talk 'bout your daddy's?" she questioned.

That question made Natalie pause in flipping the rabbit over for a moment, "Mom's daddy died before you were born, about a year or less after I first met your daddy and uncle Merle." She responded.

"What about daddy and uncle Merle's daddy?" Marlie asked with child-like curiosity. "Is he around still? Maybe we can meet him?"

Natalie shook her head, "No Marlie we can't. Your daddy and uncle's daddy is not a nice person; he's mean and someone that your dad never wants to be like and doesn't want you to ever meet. I don' want you to ever meet him. I've only met him in all my life and I never want to do that again." She told her as plain and simple as she could.

"Why is he like that?" Marlie asked.

"I don't know," Natalie told her. "I don't know why your daddy's father was like that. He did bad things." She explained.

Hearing that Marlie looked at her mom, "Is that why daddy's got all them scars?" she asked quietly.

Nodding shortly Natalie added a wild onion she had found a few days ago to the pan, "It is, but you can't know what or how it happened okay. Not till you are older and even then daddy may not want you to know." She said and ruffled her daughter's hair. "Okay."

"Okay mama." Marlie responded and continued coloring in her book.

After eating their breakfast Natalie and Marlie went through the motions of breaking down camp, putting the tent back in its bag and just packing all of their belongings up and making their way towards their van. Technically the van wasn't theirs, Natalie stole it from an abandoned house in a town outside of phoenix – her car had been stolen. The van was parked down from the woods a bit, they had to walk about fifteen or so minutes just to get to where the van was at but it was better to walk a bit than to park right next to where your camped and have people find you who might try and take advantage of you.

"Off to find daddy?" Marlie asked from the backseat of the van.

Natalie glanced back and nodded at her, "Off to find daddy." She said and with that said pulled out from the curb and turned the van towards the direction of Georgia.

Soon enough Natalie and Marlie were going to be reunited with Daryl.

~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~T W D ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Quote of the day: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

― Maya Angelou


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the walking dead or have any ties to the show at all other than being a fan.

A/N: I enjoy reviews and love reading every single one of them. Thanks to those of you who have reviews so far even though i only have put a couple chapters up. Love you guys.

Chapter three

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Natalie & Marlie: Georgia ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Put your god damn gun down now lady!" an angry male voice yelled at Natalie. "We don't mean you no harm." He said trying to seem sincere but Natalie knew his type, a liar through and through – reminded her of her ex-boyfriend Josh.

Natalie gave a dry laugh from the top of a truck she was standing on, she was a few cars down from her van where her daughter was at, she made it seem like she was traveling alone and that whatever was in the bed of the truck was some valuable supplies. She was not about to let her daughter be known to these three men. They've already encountered one group of unsavory men, she did not want Marlie to encounter another – she was going to have trust issues for the rest of her life if Natalie let that happen.

"This gun?" Natalie asked as she waved her American Tactical FS40 handgun at the men but not so much that she wouldn't be able to get a good shot at them if they made one false move. "Nah, I don't think I will. You see I don't trust you, you look kinda creepy and nasty and from my experience, those kinds of people are the ones who enjoy raping girls who are traveling alone." She told them. "I'm not 'bout to let you guys do something like that to me."

"You fucking bitch," the pudgy one who looked to have enjoyed one too many hoho's in his life said to her.

"I am a female," Natalie said with a shrug. "Being a bitch comes with the territory." She told him.

The negotiator, a tan skinned man with dark eyes that looked like he was the spawn of Satan approached her, "Look we don't mean you any harm lady, we just need a few supplies to get us by for a little while longer. We don't want to hurt you. I promise." He said and walked a bit closer to the truck but Natalie aimed her gun at his head and cocked the gun. "It seems to me that you have plenty of supplies in the bed of that truck." He gestured to the bed of the truck.

Natalie narrowed her eyes at him and nodded at the high way, "There's a town down the road, I'm sure they have whatever you may need. Hey maybe even a gas station and a pharmacy for some anti-douchebag pills for Pudgy over there." She said with a hard look on her face. "I think you all need to back the fuck up and get the hell out of here and away from me and my truck."

"Who you callin' pudgy you fucking uptight bitch," Pudgy said to her. "I'd show ya a good ole' time, sure a Yankee like you could use some southern charm in those nether regions." He said with a waggle of his eye brows.

Before he could even blink Natalie trained her gun on him, "Only one person can call me Yankee, you ain't him bitch." She growled out to him, yeah it's not obvious at all that she's married to Daryl and picked up one too many traits of his.

"Come on," the youngest one of the group, Baby Face, said with a whine. "Let's show the cunt whose boss and take her shit and leave her to rot in hell and get eaten by the Braineaters." He said as he glared up at Natalie from his position a few cars away, he was standing in front of an oldsmobile that was from the stoneage.

Negotiator sighed, "Look it's three against one, who do you really think is going to win girlie?" he asked her and looked at her skeptically. "Because chica, let's be realistic here, it definitely ain't gonna be you." He said to her.

Natalie held her place in the truck, she knew the odds were against her but she was not about to let these guys rob her or hurt her. She was going to fight them and make them regret ever coming near her.

"Sorry dearies but I'm not going to let you steal my shit, it's just not how I roll." Natalie said to them with an unsympathetic shrug. "I think it's time you get back in your car, turn your asses around and head on over to that town I told you about. I'm not gonna give you anything."

Before Natalie could even say anything else the Negotiator suddenly slammed his fists against the hood of the truck Natalie was standing on, "God damn woman we are trying to be reasonable and nice here but you just aren't making this easy." He said in anger and stalked closer to her with his own gun raised at her. "We could kill you and rape you and take everything for ourselves but we aren't, we are asking, nicely by the way, if you would give us half of your supplies." He stated to her simply.

"NO." Natalie said without wavering in fear, which was something she was definitely feeling at the moment – being a woman by herself surrounded by three guys would make any female feel a bit frightened.

There's no saying that she will make it out of this intact, these guys are well armed, there are more of them and she is just one small woman with a hand gun that had a limited amount of bullets in it. Natalie hasn't come across a gun shop in a while or a Wal-Mart where she could raid for some ammo.

"Fucking fine," Negotiator said and smiled at her darkly. "We're going to take everything you have, every single piece of equipment and every single item of food and water and then once we take it all and take your truck we're going to make you regret saying no to us." He told her in a deadly tone of voice as he slowly walked towards her.

The man was so close that he could almost reach out and grab Natalie, but before he was able to Natalie aimed and took the shot. Hit him right in the upper chest – a wound that he was definitely not going to be able to get back up from. Not even thinking about it, Natalie jumped off of the truck and to the ground and quickly ran behind another car for cover as Baby Face and Pudgy shot at where she had been standing.

"The damn whore just killed Danny," Baby Face screamed, he sounded way too much like a girl, grow some balls man. "Come here you coward, we just want to have some fun. Two on one fun, we can have a threesome and make you pay for what you did to Danny." He stated.

Natalie peered around the car and nearly gasped at how close Baby Face was, pudgy was a few cars back still so she was less worried about him and more worried about the kid. She remembered a time when kids were nice and actually were nice to their elders – not trying to steal and rape from them. Crouching down low to the ground, Natalie glanced up and under the car and aimed for the kids leg – she really didn't like killing people but if it meant that she and Marlie would live to see another day she'll do it. The shot fired and the kid screamed bloody murder but sadly didn't fall to the ground.

Taking her chance Natalie ran around the car on the opposite side from which Baby Face was, she heard him shooting at her but ducked and rolled under a bus that was in the middle of the high way, she rolled out from the other side and then pressed herself up against it.

"A shot to the leg ain't gonna kill me." Baby Face screamed to her.

Taking a deep breath Natalie crouched down and looked past the bus tire and saw Baby Face and Pudgy slowly making their way towards her van, the van her daughter was in.

"Fuck!" Natalie swore to herself.

Sometimes life really sucked.

"Hey fuckers here I am," Natalie said jumping out from the bus and standing in plain view, they raised their guns to fire at her but she raised her hands in peace. "Ah uh, I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot." She said as innocently as she could.

Pudgy scoffed, "Don't even try that bitch, you can't fool us. You killed our man." He said to her with his gun raised at her head.

Natalie gave him a look, "Hey he did threaten me after all. I had a right to defend myself." She told them simply.

"Should feel fucking honored to get with one of us," Pudgy said to her.

Baby Face grinned, "We can always tie her up and have our way with her. Still two against one." He said and then glanced at Natalie. "No one can hear you scream out here." He told Natalie as he slowly walked towards her, but Natalie wouldn't budge she held her ground.

"Can fuck you all night long, have you begging for more." Pudgy said to her. "Can bring her back to the group, share her with the guys. Break her in, maybe then she won't talk back as much." He stated and Natalie could feel her anger boiling up, she could tell what kind of group they came from – why did she always seem to run into the rapists of the world.

"Yeah, my brother Randall and I, we'd have fun all night long with a girl like her." Baby Face said with a smirk. "He likes the screamers."

Pudgy inched closer, "Can be the village whore." He laughed. "Just you wait it-"

Before Pudgy was even able to finish his sentence he was falling back with a bullet hole where his left eye once was, for a few moments Baby Face looked at Pudgy with a look of shock and surprise on his face.

"You damn crazy ass bitch," Baby Face yelled and threw his gun to the ground and tackled Natalie.

The two rolled around for a while, Natalie doing all she could to make it so he didn't hit her – she was not going to find Daryl and show up with a damn bruise on her face. With a grimace Natalie head butted the guy and tried to push him off of her but he knocked her gun out of her hands and grinned down at her before quickly grabbing the knife that she had tucked into her pants.

"Now look here bitch," Baby Face said to her. "You are going to listen to me, you are going to give me all of your supplies and you are going to enjoy this." He said to her and hit her in the face with the back of his hand.

Natalie refused to cry out, instead she glared up at him steadily and spit in his face with a rebellious look in her eyes. "Fuck off." She retorted.

"You're going to regret that," he said to her and grabbed her hands and pushed them above her head and held on tightly and then pushed her shirt up. "Not so tough now that you don't have your gun are ya?" he asked her.

Natalie glared at him but said nothing else, she was going to get out of this without being raped, all she needed to do now was think of the best escape route. Apparently escapes take a bit longer to plan out then putting on a brave face and threatening a group of three guys.

Baby Face ran his hands up her body, up her stomach and to her breasts and then squeezed them hard and Natalie's eyes narrowed in anger but was able to hold her tongue.

"Before we get this party started I think we should mark this beautiful skin up," Baby Face said. "You killed my men, I think that you owe me for that." He said to her.

Taking a deep breath Natalie gave Baby Face the nastiest glare she could come up with, before she was able to try and move or say anything he started to drag the knife diagonally across her stomach, from just under her bra to a few inches above her pants.

It hurt like a bitch but Natalie had to be thankful he wasn't pressing to hard and giving her a deeper wound, it was obvious he wasn't as learned into this way of life as his companions probably were. Couldn't torture someone properly, not that Natalie was about to complain she was thankful for his lack of knowledge.

Soon he pulled the knife away, tossed it away from himself and grinned down menacingly, "Now for the real fun." He told her and leaned down and started to push her shirt further up but Natalie started fighting back and screamed but he quickly covered her mouth with his hand. "You trying to bring all them dead things over here?" he asked with a glare.

Natalie narrowed her eyes and then bit down hard on the kid's hand which made his scream and pull away from her for a moment, the moment was long enough that Natalie was able to use her weight against him and push him off of her and roll to the side and away from him. Natalie saw her gun a few cars away and knew there was no way she could get it so she opted for her knife, she grabbed it from the car it had landed against when Baby Face was trying to rape her faced him.

"Feisty." Baby Face said to her.

Natalie glared, "How's the leg?" she asked mockingly as she noticed his leg was actually bleeding quite badly. "Looks like you need to get that checked out. Too bad the world ended."

Baby Face laughed, "I'm not too worried I got people to look after me when I get back. I think if anyone should be worried about their health it should be you." He said with a smirk on his face. "I'm the one who has a gun in hand, you….you have a knife." he stated. "Not all that impressive."

Just hearing the tone of voice he was using when he said that made Natalie want to have a horde come into the area just so she could watch tem tear Baby Face apart.

"I don't need a gun to beat you." Natalie said confidently. "I'm pretty good with knives." She said with a shrug.

"We'll see about that." Baby Face said. "Let's see who can make it out of this alive." He said to her. "Me, who has the gun or you who has a knife for a weapon. What are the odds that you will make it out alive?"

Natalie stared at the kid for a few moments, "What's your name?" she asked. "I want to know the name of my almost rapist." She told him.

The kid laughed, "Heath. And I'm the last thing you'll ever see before you die." He told her. "Better be prayin' to the gods."

"I don't need to pray," Natalie told him confidently. "Only one of us is going to make it out of this alive, and I have too much to live for to die this easily." She said.

Both Natalie and Baby Face stared at each other before they reacted, Natalie threw her knife and Baby Face/Heath shot his gun.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Daryl ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Daryl was sitting near the main fireplace for once cleaning his arrows and making sure there was no damage to them that would make them useless, he was probably going to have to make some more arrows one of these days but he just hasn't gotten around to doing it yet.

"Daryl?" Shane asked as he approached the gruff red-neck hesitantly, the guy was angrier than a caged rattle snake.

Hearing his name Daryl glanced up at Shane with an annoyed expression, "What'd ya want?" he growled out.

"It's your turn to take watch," Shane stated and gestured over to the RV which they used as a look out.

Taking a good look at the RV Daryl saw that Andrea and her sister Amy were up on the top, "Seems to me the blondes have got it covered, don't need me for nothing." He said with a shrug and went back to his arrows.

"Andrea is only on watch for a few more hours, you'll be on watch until eleven." Shane told him. "Come on we all gotta contribute here." He said to him.

Hearing that Daryl put his arrow's down and looked up at Shane who was still standing above him, "What'd you jus' say to me?" he asked with pursed lips.

Shane looked at Daryl hesitantly; this conversation was definitely not going how he had envisioned it. "We all need to contribute." He repeated again.

"You sayin' that I ain't contributin' around here?" Daryl asked as he stood up and gestured to the camp. "I don't see you and everyone else goin' out huntin' for food and shit." He yelled at him. "Way I see it pig, is me and Merle goin' out to feed you people. I figure that if it weren't for us ya'll would fuckin' starve to death. Ain't ever heard no thanks from you damn people either." He said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

It took a few moments but Shane realized that in the weeks that they have been in the quarry that he, nor anyone else has really said thanks to the Dixon brothers, not that they were an easily approachable pair.

Shane ran his hands through his curly hair, "Thanks Daryl for hunting for us and feeding us. I'm sorry it took so long to-"

Before Shane could even finish his sentence Daryl scoffed, "Too damn late copper. Too damn late." He said with a shake of his head.

"Will you," Shane hesitated a moment. "Please take watch?" He asked, he hated the fact that he had to say please to a redneck hick like Daryl Dixon.

The Dixon's may hunt for the group but that didn't mean that Shane had to like them, they were the most redneck hick's that he has ever met – the white trash of the world who lived in trailers their whole lives and had dead end jobs.

Daryl bit at the tip of his thumb and laughed humorlessly, "Whatever, fine." He said and stalked away from where Shane was standing at and headed towards the RV where the two blondes were.

Daryl didn't see why he had to take watch, and Shane saying that he didn't contribute was bullshit. Daryl did more for the damn camp than a majority of the people combined – Shane figured himself the leader of the damn place and that he could order everyone around just because he was a cop back in his old town. Some days Daryl didn't see the point of why he and Merle stayed.

"Hey Daryl," Amy said when she saw Daryl climb the RV latter and sit down cross-legged as far away from the two girls as he possibly could.

In response to that Daryl just grunted and decided to clean his crossbow and lube it up so that it stayed in top condition, it would suck if the thing suddenly decided to jam while he was fighting off walkers and needed to kill one in a hurry.

While Daryl was cleaning his bow he thought about the first time he ever met Natalie; he and Merle were on their hour lunch and were trying to find someplace to eat and decided to try a Deli that was just down the street from the house that they were working on and doing some repairs to.

_**The moment Daryl and Merle walked into the Deli which was called Backroom Deli, he was drawn to a girl that was at the counter making sandwiches. She couldn't have been older than twenty-two or so, she had medium length messy, curly blonde hair, she was short maybe five foot two or three at the most and was curvy. He shook his head though, before his thoughts could get away from him. It never failed to happen that once he got interested in a girl like her that they would act like they like him and be with him for a while but then would dump him once it got serious and they realized how red neck he was, even more so when they saw all of the scars on his body. **_

_**Merle saw his little brother looking at the girl and smirked to himself, without another thought he sauntered up to the girl and grinned at her when she looked up at him with a small smile. **_

"_**Hey sugar tit's, mind makin' ol' Merle a sandwich," He asked as he leaned against the glass that was in front of where she was working.**_

_**The moment Merle opened his mouth Daryl wanted to kill his brother, sometimes he really needed to learn when was the right time to keep his mouth shut. **_

_**The girl looked at Merle and then down at her chest and then back at Merle once again, "They are great looking aren't they," she said without batting an eyelash. "I am quite fond of them. Seems to me you like 'em too but no offense," she paused for a moment. "Ol' Merle but you ain't touching them ever. They're mine and FYI I'm not your sugar tits. Call me that again and I'll beat you so bad that you'll think you're a six year old girl who likes to play with Barbie's." **_

_**For a second Daryl swore his brother was going to explode in anger at the girl but instead Merle grinned widely, "Ain't you a little spitfire." He responded in amusement. **_

"_**Oh you don't know the half of it, you wouldn't be able to handle me on a bad day Merle." The girl responded with a smirk. **_

_**Merle shook his head, "Oh I think I could handle you." He said with a waggle of his eye brows.**_

_**When Merle did that Daryl sighed, it figured his brother would flirt with the girl. The man flirted with anything that was somewhat attractive and had boobs, and this girl in front of them definitely fit in those categories. **_

"_**Nah Merle I don't think you can, side's I'm too bodacious for you." She said with a grin on her face. "Sides you are so not my type, too old for me and not enough hair." She said.**_

_**Daryl couldn't help but laugh a bit at that. **_

"_**So can you make ol' Merle and my baby brother some sandwiches?" he asked with a raised brow.**_

_**Daryl looked at merle in surprise, usually he was rude and gruff to everyone but family and those he trusted – and those were few and far between if there were even any. For some odd reason Merle was being nice to this girl, or as nice as Merle could get and he's only known the girl for a few minutes and she even insulted him. **_

"_**Sure Merle," the girl said and looked at Merle and then Daryl. "And merle's brother." She said.**_

"_**Daryl." Daryl said gruffly. **_

"_**Daryl," the girl said softly.**_

_**Merle looked at the girl, "And your name would be?" he asked.**_

_**The girl grinned at him, "Now I'm not about to tell two strange men my name, I don't need your heartbroken self stalking me to my place Merle." She told him. "I think I'll keep my name a secret for now." **_

Daryl was broken from his memory by Amy asking him a question, "What about you Daryl?" Amy asked looking over at him.

"What about me?" he asked as he looked over at her in annoyance.

Amy rolled her eyes, "What do you miss from the old world?" she asked.

What Daryl missed the most was his wife and daughter but he wasn't about to say that to two strangers, no one needed to know that he had a wife and kid who were now dead. He didn't need anyone's sympathy.

"I miss it when teenagers minded their own fucking business and didn't ask questions all of the time." He said to her rudely, if Natalie had been there she would have hit him upside the head for that comment.

"Hey!" Andrea responded and glared over at Daryl. "She was just trying to be nice." She said, defending her sister against the rude redneck.

At that Daryl scoffed, "World ain't a nice place no more." He said to them. "Now be quiet, ya'll are givn' a damn migraine." He told them.

Andrea shook her head, "Big word for a hick." She said under her breath.

Daryl heard that comment but he just didn't have it in him to argue, he didn't care what she and any of the others thought of him. The only person's whose opinion he cared about was Natalie and Marlie.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Natalie & Marlie ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Once Natalie had killed Baby Face Heath she got the hell out of dodge; she hurriedly found her gun, grabbed her knife from Heath's face, stole any weapon's that the three guys had on them and got in the van with her daughter and drove off. Right now all Natalie cared about was driving as fast and far away from the area as she possibly could, with all of the fighting and gunfire that was going on there was bound to be walkers in the area soon enough. Natalie would rather not take that chance and get out of there before they showed up, she would have loved to scavenge through all of the cars but it's not worth the safety of herself and her daughter.

"Mommy?" Marlie questioned from the back seat.

Even though the world ended weeks ago Natalie was still making her daughter be safe when driving in a car, which meant that Marlie had to ride in the back seat no matter what

"What is it Marlie?" Natalie asked trying to keep her frantic emotions inside, she would feel less worried once they were farther away from where she and the three guys had their fight.

Marlie sniffled for a moment before she spoke, "You're bleeding mommy." She said to her.

Glancing in the rearview mirror Natalie saw that Marlie had tears falling down her face; obviously in her daughter's six year old mind she was thinking the worst. That Natalie was bleeding so badly that she wouldn't make it.

"Just a few scratches," Natalie said as she turned her eyes back to the road. "Nothing I can't take Mar. I'm fine." She reassured her.

It took Marlie a few moments but she got her tears under controlled before she looked back up at her mother who was driving, "Are you sure?" she asked her. "What if…what if you turn into one of those things? You can't leave me mommy. I need you here. I love you. I don't want you to die." She all but wailed.

"Marlie the only way f or me to turn into one of those things is for me to get scratched or bit by them," Natalie said to her calmly. "I wasn't attacked by a biter; I was attacked by living people."

Taking a calming breath Marlie nodded, "Okay." She said but still looked at her mother worriedly. "Mama we need to fix you up, just like you and daddy do for me when I fall in the woods or the time I felled off my bike and scraped my knee." She told her. "I'll do it for you since daddy isn't here. I paid lots of attention when you guys did it for me."

Hearing that Natalie gave a gentle smile, her daughter the doctor, "I would love to do that but we don't have the time right now Mar. We need to get as far away from that area as we possibly can, I don't want any of those Biters to find us." She explained to her as simply as she could. "Once we get far enough away I promise that we can patch me up."

"You better let me help." Marlie said to her mother and crossed her arms.

Natalie laughed at the expression; it was such a Daryl scowl. "Don't worry Marlie I will let you help me. Wouldn't want anyone else to do it." She told her.

"'Cept Daddy. Daddy patches up people the best." Marlie said convincingly.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Quote of the day ~_~_~~_~_~_~_~_~

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. ~e.e. cummings, 1955

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter i sure enjoyed writing it. I know a majority of you want them to hurry up and get reunited but it can't happen just like that sadly.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: You guys know the drill i don't owen the walking dead.

A/N: hope you all enjoy this. It took me a few tries to get it right but i eventually got it how i liked it.

Chapter four

Once Natalie was sure that she and Marlie were far enough away from where the fight had happened she pulled over onto the side of the road and turned the car off and then locked the doors, it was nearing night time and she definitely knew that they weren't going to be able to make it to someplace to make camp so the car was going to have to do.

"Marlie I need you to hand me some of those blankets from the back," Natalie said to her daughter as she unbuckled herself. "Can you do that for me?" she asked her gently.

Marlie looked at her mom and nodded, she climbed over the seat and grabbed two blankets and handed them to her mom curious as to what she needed them for. It was getting late and they needed to head into the woods to make camp.

"What are you doing?" Marlie asked as she brushed some of her curly dark blonde/brown hair out of her face.

For a moment Natalie didn't answer he daughter she just unfolded the blankets and shook them out a bit and laid them over her lap, the two should be plenty big enough to cover up the front windows.

"Mama?" Marlie questioned.

Looking back at her daughter Natalie gave Marlie a smile, "We're going to build a sort of fort on the inside of the car." She told her. "It's getting late and it'll be dark before we are able to find a good place to make camp. So tonight we are staying in the car." She told her.

Hearing that Marlie's eyes widened in fear, "Mama they could get us in the car. They could see us and try and get in and eat us up." She said to her.

Natalie took a deep breath and looked back at Marlie, "Have I ever let you down?" she asked and Marlie shook her head. "Have I ever let you get hurt yet?" she asked and once again Marlie shook her head negatively. "Then believe me Marlie, I will not let anything happen to you, I will protect you with my life and I will keep you safe. Nothing is going to get you." She said strongly.

"You're right," Marlie said suddenly with high spirits. "You and daddy have always protected me and you're like those warrior princesses in those stories you and daddy tell me at night."

"Exactly," Natalie said with a half-smile. "Now hand me the tool box that's on the floor. I think there may be something in there I can use to keep these blankets up. If all else fails rope and duct tape." She told her.

That made Marlie giggle, "Duct tape and rope doesn't fix everything Mama." She said to her.

When she said that Natalie raised her brow, "Oh yes it does." She said to her playfully. "If duct tape won't fix it then nothing can." She told her.

Marlie laughed and handed the small tool box to her mother and shook her head, sometimes she really worried about her mom. She was silly and funny but weird, but then again from what she's seen of other kids' parents she would rather have her weird mom and her hunter dad than parent's like Mary-Beth Perkin's had – they dressed in business suits every day and were always on their phones and never picked Mary-Beth up. She once saw Mary-Beth's parents glaring at hers when she had her kindergarten graduation.

"Thank ya little chillen." Natalie said to her daughter and dug through the tool box – there were washers, a wrench or two, a small screwdriver, a hammer, and some wire. "I need something useful toolbox." She said to the inanimate object, Natalie swears she's only partly crazy.

Thinking for a moment Natalie opened the glove box of the van and rummaged through there, when she first stole the van she figured it belonged to an old man – there was some fishing gear and old people magazine's in it. Grabbing at a clear box that was in the glove compartment Natalie pulled it out and looked at it and grinned, score. It was a box of heavy duty hooks that were for fishing but they would work for hooking the blankets to the ceiling of the van so that the Biters couldn't see that there were living people inside.

"Did you find something Mama?" Marlie asked.

"Yup," Natalie replied with a nod. "I found some hooks that we can use to hold up the blankets." She said and quickly went to work, hooking and securing the blankets to the ceiling of the front of the van.

One reason Natalie decided to steal the van other than the fact that it was large enough for all of their stuff, was the fact that the majority of the windows were tinted which made it harder for people on the outside to see inside of it.

Securing the last blanket Natalie smiled and then made her way to the back of the van where Marlie was at, "there we go, all covered up." She told her with a smile.

Without warning Marlie launched herself at her mom and hugged her tightly, "I'm scared." Marlie told her.

"Nothing is gonna get us Marlie," Natalie said through clenched teeth. "We're inside a van with a few weapons at our disposal. We'll be perfectly fine."

Natalie may have told her daughter that her wounds weren't that serious but it doesn't meant that they didn't hurt like a bitch – they weren't terribly deep but they were deep enough to hurt and sting when they rubbed against her shirt.

Marlie looked up at her mom with her blue eyes and gave a small smile, "I love you mama." She said and squeezed Natalie around the middle which made her hiss in pain and immediately Marlie let her go. "I forgot! You're hurt we need to fix you up."

Before Marlie was able to grab at Natalie's shirt and lift it up to look at the knife scratches Natalie grasped her daughter's hand, "Calm." She ordered sternly. "You get the first aid kit and a cloth okay." She told her.

"I will, I will be the best doctor/nurse you've ever had." Marlie said confidently and went further into the back and grabbed the smaller first aid kit and pushed it over the seat to where her mom was and then found a cloth in the same bag and climbed back over the seat to her mom.

"Thanks Mar," Natalie said as she shrugged herself out of her yellow and black plaid tunic shirt and tossed it up front and then looked down at her tank top and spaghetti strap shirt. "I really liked these shirts." She said with a pout and then peeled them off so she was in nothing but her bra and jeans.

While Natalie was getting out of her ruined shirts Marlie opened the first aid kit and was taking out everything that she thought she would need to fix her mom back up – her dad would be so proud of her for what she did.

"Now what?" Marlie asked looking up in earnest at her mom.

Natalie grinned at her and grabbed the cloth and then a bottle of water and put the bare minimum of water on it, "Now I'm going to clean these as much as I can – all we have is water to work with to clean it out with so it's going to have to do. Maybe once we come across a town we can go scavenging and get some better medical supplies." She said to her. "I stocked up on medicine but not first aid kind of stuff like rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide." Natalie said and Marlie just looked at her in confusion.

Marlie cocked her head to the side as she looked at her mom, "I don't know what that hydrobin stuff is." She told her.

"Hydrogen peroxide, it cleans wounds and keeps a person from getting an infection." Natalie explained to her.

Once Natalie had cleaned the wounds as best she could with the water, she laid down on the seat and let Marlie put Neosporin onto the three rather large cuts and then put gauze pads on top of them and tape them up so that they were covered.

With a smile Marlie taped up the last one, "There, all better!" she said happily.

Natalie grinned at her, "I definitely feel better knowing that you took care of me." She said as she carefully sat up and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"I did what I remember you and daddy doing," Marlie said with a shrug and packed the medical supplies back up and put it in the very back of the van.

That made Natalie smile at her, sometimes Marlie says things so innocently and so seriously that she couldn't help but find it adorable.

Yawning widely Natalie reached over to the very back of the van and grabbed a pillow and a blanket for her and Marlie to use for the night – it was an exhausting and exciting day, they both needed to get some sleep.

"Come on, let's get some sleep." Natalie said as she moved some things off of the seats to make room for the two of them to sleep.

Putting a pillow at one end and shaking out the blanket Natalie stretched out on the seats of the van and then motioned for Marlie to join her, for a few moments Marlie hesitated and looked at her mom or more precisely the wounds on her mom's stomach.

Natalie looked at Marlie, "What's wrong?" she asked her.

"I don't wanna hurt ya mama." Marlie said to her.

At that Natalie shook her head, "I'll be fine. Now get your adorable ass over here and get to sleep." She said to her. "I need my cuddle buddy." She said which made Marlie smile a bit.

Carefully Marlie snuggled up to her mom's side and rested her head over her mom's chest, closed her eyes and listened to her heart beat. Within only a few moments Marlie was dead asleep and hopefully wouldn't wake up until morning – being on the run made it hard to get a good night's sleep especially when it was only Marlie and Natalie to watch each other's backs. Marlie might be brave and know that it's you or the dead but she isn't old enough to really fight the Biters, and if they had to go on for another month or so of this by themselves they were definitely not going to last. If it was just Natalie that would be something else but she had Marlie to worry about.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Daryl ~~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_~_~_

Daryl was sick and tired of all of the drama that people at camp were dealing with and how nosey the whole lot of them were and Merle and his drug shit. If Natalie was there she would at least be able to help him deal with merle and his drugs but she wasn't and Daryl wasn't in the mod half of the time to say anything about it.

He was sick of seeing people being able to be with their families, Daryl may be a bad ass, anti-social and gruff but he loved his family and hated seeing everyone around him with their loved ones and him not able to do the same thing. Sure he had Merle but Merle was…Merle. It pained him to see the Grimes' Lori and Carl together and the fact that Lori's husband died a few weeks ago and now she was fucking Shane – moves on fast, seeing Dale act like a father to Andrea and Amy and the worst of all he hated Ed. He knew his type, angry and abusive to both his wife and daughter more than likely.

He wanted so badly to do something about it but Shane said some shit about it not being their business and it's the Peletier's marriage and to not mess with it and cause any undue problems or some shit like that. Total Bullshit. Natalie wouldn't take that, she would just raise a brow at Shane and then wail at Ed for hurting Carol and Sophia.

"Stupid ass mother fuckers." Daryl said to himself as he was walking around the woods, just having a watch on top of the RV was not good enough they needed to do a perimeter too – Shane was just too lazy to assign people.

After walking around the woods for a while to cool off and to let go of some of his anger Daryl sat down on the ground against a tree, he looked up at the sky and breathed in the night air. It was crisp and refreshing. The stars were visible, more visible than within the city limits from the few times that Daryl remembered being in Atlanta when it was night time.

"hey baby bro!"

Looking to the left of him Daryl saw Merle grinning at him, "Merle." Daryl said without much emotion.

Merle looked at Daryl and leaned against a tree across from him, "Ya ain't lettin' yourself get killed are ya?" Merle asked him.

For a few moments Daryl looked at Merle and shook his head, Merle was on something but from what he could tell it wasn't coke thankfully – he was an asshole when on that stuff.

"Nah Merle I ain't letting myself get killed yet. You don't gotta worry about it yet." Daryl said to him as he rubbed his ring finger where he had Natalie's name tattooed in place of a wedding ring.

Neither Natalie nor Daryl wanted the big flashy wedding, they wanted simple and easy, something that fit their relationship and personalities perfectly. Daryl wore his best and cleanest clothes and Natalie went out and bought a simple white dress, they had an ordained minister come out to their country home and marry them in front of a few friends and family. Simple.

"Thinkin' about spitfire and the little demon?" Merle asked him.

Daryl shrugged, "When ain't I?" he responded. "I miss 'em, Natalie and Marlie." He told his older brother with emotion, something he hated for people to hear from him. "Before Natalie came along I ain't never thought I would find someone for me, someone that would be okay with all the shitty stuff in my life ya know." Daryl said.

"Ya did though, Natalie for some fucked up reason accepted us." Merle said surprisingly softly. "Didn't care about my drugs and shit, didn't care 'bout all the scars we got between us and never once looked at us disgusted. She's an angel in disguise."

For the most part Merle tried to not deal and get all emotional, he thought that men didn't do that and that crying was a sign of weakness but for Natalie and Marlie he got teared up and did cry when he was alone, not that he would admit that even at gun point.

Daryl closed his eyes for a moment, "That woman was too good for me," Daryl said gruffly and shook his head. "Too damn good. I don't deserve her. Natalie deserves better than what I could have given her, she deserved a big fancy house with a husband who has a proper job at some office in the city, she deserves to have a nice kitchen not one where I would bring animal's home and gut them up, she deserves to have a nice car like a Mercedes benz, and she deserved to have her fancy wedding. In a big church, with everyone she knew and with an expensive dress and ring to go with it and a real honey moon." He finished.

When Daryl said that Merle looked at his brother, shook his head and went over and hit Daryl upside the head. "You're a down right idiot you know that." He said to him.

"What the fuck Merle," Daryl said with a glare. "What I done to you?" he questioned.

Merle gave Daryl a narrowed look, "Said some stupid shit." He told him. "Nat ain't ever wanted half those things you mentioned. She never wanted a fancy car – she likes her SUV's ya know that, she isn't religious so she definitely wouldn't have wanted to get married in a church, it was her idea in the first place to get the tattoo's instead of actual rings, she doesn't want to be a housewife Daryl. Let's be honest here, she would 'ave been a housewife if she woulda married some business man – Nat likes to be able to do things and work otherwise that girlie feels useless." He told him.

Daryl gave a slight laugh, "Proper business man wouldn't be able to handle a woman like Natalie. She's….she's intense." He ended.

"Ain't that the truth," Merle said rubbed at his face. "Come on get your pussy ass up and act like a man. Mopin' an' shit, ain't what us Dixon's do – actin' way too much like a damn teenage girl Daryl or should I say Darylina." He mocked.

"Shut up," Daryl said as he stood and pushed Merle in a brotherly way.

"C'mon them bitches at camp are gettin' on my nerves," merle said. "Ain't none of them willing to give up any. Older blonde sugar tits ain't putting out for shit." He complained.

That made Daryl scoff, "Probably don't wanna get an STD." he joked.

Glancing down Merle gave Daryl a look, "Thin ice bro, thin ice." He stated.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Next Morning: Quarry ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"All right ya'll," Shane started as he gained the majority of the camp's attention. "We're runnin' low on gas and I think we need to do a run to the highway and try and syphon some gas from the abandoned cars." He stated. "If we need to pack up and head out we ain't gonna get far with the small bit of gas we have for all of these cars. Maybe even see if there's anything salvageable in the cars that we can use – parts, food and clothing wise."

Amy looked at Shane, "So what, you're looking for volunteers?" she asked.

Shane nodded, "Yeah, just two." He said to them. "Glenn is already goin' he's good at getting in and out without problems scavenging the highway shouldn't be any different."

"Sendin' the chink in?" Merle said with a shake of his head. "Might as well use 'im as bait instead, too scrawny." He said with a shake of his head.

In response to that Glenn just glared at him but said nothing else, it wasn't worth it to get in an argument with a racist like Merle Dixon.

"I'll go," Jim spoke up. "I know what kind of parts we need for the cars, more so than anyone else who would go." He said softly, Jim was definitely a man of few words.

Shane nodded, "Okay we got two men going, anyone else?" he asked looking around at everyone else in the camp.

Shane wasn't stupid enough to think that Merle or Daryl would go so he didn't even bother looking at them, but he did look at Andrea and Amy to see if either of them wanted to go and then at Jacqui and T-Dogg and the rest of the group. Someone else must have wanted to go with.

"I'll go," T-Dogg said as he walked up to where Glenn was standing at. "Need to get out of this camp for a while. Getting a bit cramped." He said as he glared sideways at Merle.

Merle laughed when he saw the group, "A chink, a nigger and a mechanic. Yeah they're definitely gonna make it back." He said with a shake of his head. "Tell me when the funeral is." He said and walked away. "Come on bro, let's go huntin' I'm getting hungry for something that ain't canned for once."

Shaking his head Daryl followed after his brother after he grabbed his crossbow.

"Well then," Shane said as he looked at Glenn, Jim and T-Dogg. "Ready to leave?" he asked them.

T-Dogg shrugged, "Might as well, not like there's anything to do here right now." He said to him. "I really need to get out of here, sick of being stuck here twenty-four seven." He said under his breath.

With that said Shane nodded, "Okay we'll get some stuff ready for you guys and then get you on your way." He said and walked away.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Glenn, T-Dogg & Jim ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

As cautiously as they could Glenn, T-Dogg and Jim made their way through the highway and once they found a decent spot with more than enough cars they parked T-dogg's van and got out to scavenge.

"Jim you'll look for parts, T-Dogg will syphon and I'll keep a look out and look for other supplies." Glenn said as he looked at the two other men. "That sound okay to you guys?" he questioned.

Jim nodded, "Sounds fine." He said quietly and took his bag of tools with him and headed towards an old beat up truck to see what he could salvage for parts.

T-Dogg nodded and started walking towards a random car with a few of the gas can's in his hands, "Hey Glenn." T-Dogg yelled back.

"Yeah?" Glenn asked.

"See anything or get into trouble yell," T-Dogg said to him. "Got it?" he asked.

Glenn nodded, "Yeah, yeah." He said waving his concern off and weaved his way through the cars, trying to see if he could find one that had some goods in it that they could use.

There were tons of cars all over the place – most of them pulled over to the side of the road and out of the way thankfully but not all. When the government bombed Atlanta many people decided to just up and abandon their cars and make their way on foot especially when it was obvious that none of the cars were about to move in either direction. It's the reason why the quarry survivors drove on the wrong side of the road – barely any cars on that side.

Glenn pulled a few things out of the cars; medicine like Tylenol, ibuprofen, some gauze pads, rubbing alcohol, granola bars, random pieces of clothes that would probably be put to use back at camp and even some pairs of boots. So far though, barely any food to be found, what they could really use was some canned food.

"Come on man," Glenn complained. "One of these hunks of junk has gotta have some canned food." He said as he shut another car door that had nothing all that useful.

Looking around Glenn saw a greenish/black colored van that's windows were blocked out – he figured maybe whoever was last in it had abandoned it and left a menial amount of supplies that he could use. No harm in trying.

Carefully Glenn made his way towards the van, his gun raised in case a Walker suddenly popped out from the middle of nowhere. Glenn was only a couple feet from the van and he reached his hand out towards the door handle but before he could an arrow was pointed only inches from his face. Following the arrow to the owner Glenn saw a curly blonde haired woman who looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties – a woman who was looking at him menacingly.

"Who in the fuck are you and what are you doing near my van?" she all but growled out at him.

"Uh…I…I'm." Glenn stuttered out.

The woman just looked at him with a raised brow and waited for his response.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Quote ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~

For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.

William Penn


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer:I do not own the Walking Dead in any form, but love the show and am greatly inspired by it.

A/N: Took me forever to write this, i even stayed up late last night jsut to finish it even though i had to work the morning shift at work/ Hate getting up at six am.

A/N2: Please review i appreciate all of them and love to read them, and thank you to you reviewers who left me comments even though i only have four chapters up so far. Smooches to you guys.

Chapter five

"Well?" The blonde haired, bow wielding woman asked, looking at Glenn with a fierce glare – almost as scary looking as Daryl Dixon's. "Do you speak or is stuttering like an idiot your main mode of communication?" she asked with braised brows.

Glenn gulped and looked at her, "I. . . I . . I'm. . . we're out here scavenging for some supplies, that's all." He admitted. "Some gas, car parts to fix ours back at camp up and anything usable really." He said to her nervously as he eyed the arrow that was only a foot or so from his face.

The woman narrowed her eyes at him, "We're?" she asked harshly. "As in more than one?" she questioned and gave a quick look around the area for Glenn's companions.

"Yeah," Glenn nodded hesitantly. "There's only three of us including myself." He told her honestly, lying really wasn't Glenn's forte – if he had to lie to save his life he would be six feet under. "I'm…I'm Glenn."

When he introduced himself the blonde woman snorted in amusement and shook her head at him, "Hun, you do realize how incredibly stupid it was of you to tell me your name when you don't even know who the fuck I am." She said to him. "I mean come on, I could kill you within seconds and then go off looking for your friends and then them that you are hurt and then turn around and kill them, then make my way to wherever this camp of yours is and kill everyone in their sleep and steal your supplies. Easy as that." She said to him bluntly.

"Umm….sorry," Glenn apologized, he was unsure of how to react or respond to that comment.

The woman just shook her head at him and was about to say something else to him, but before she was able to do so the sound of T-Dogg yelling out for him stopped her.

"Yo, Glenn where are you at man?" T-Dogg said from only a few yards away, if that even. "Come on Glenn, answer me!"

The woman took a quick glance at the cars to pinpoint wherever T-Dogg was yelling at and then looked back at Glenn with a nod of her head, "Friend of yours I'm guessing." She said to him.

"T-Dogg," Glenn whispered, barely audible.

"You really need to learn to not give out names so trustingly," the blonde said to him in amusement.

Glenn wasn't sure what to do, he couldn't tell if this woman was trustworthy or not – one the one hand she did have an arrow pointed at his face but on the other she hasn't threatened him technically or tried to kill him. Living people were complicating to figure out Glenn decided, give him Walkers any day of the week at least he knew what to expect from them. He wasn't sure if he should yell out to T-Dogg and warn him about the armed woman, should he say nothing or should Glenn take a chance and run for it and hope that the woman wouldn't actually shoot at him.

"Glenn come on," Jim yelled out as well.

It was obvious from how loud their voices were that Jim and T-Dogg were getting closer where Glenn and the bow wielding woman were at, and Glenn hoped that the woman wasn't the type who shot first and then asked questions later. Sure she didn't do that to him but have three strange guys confronting her and the woman might change her plan of action.

"Glenn!" T-Dogg yelled once again. "Stop playin' man this isn't funny no more." He said from only a few feet away.

Before Glenn could make a decision on what to do both Jim and T-dogg walked right into the situation he was in with the blonde haired woman, it only took the two of them a few seconds to realize what was going on before they reacted.

"What the fuck?" T-Dogg said and aimed his gun at the woman.

Jim decided to play it cool and collected and try and defuse the tense situation, and hopefully get all of them out of there without anyone getting killed – the girl included.

The woman raised her brow at T-Dogg, "You're seriously raising your gun to me?" she asked with a laugh. "I have a bow pointed at your friend and you're going to try and shoot me?"

"I'll shoot you before you can kill him," T-Dogg said menacingly.

"If you kill me I'll lose the hold I have on the string," The woman said tugging on the bow's string. "The arrow will go straight through your friend's pretty little head." She told him and then narrowed her eyes at him. "How about you back the fuck up and lower that damn gun." She said giving him a look.

T-Dogg shook his head, "I don't think so." He told her and readjusted his hold that he had on his handgun.

Glenn closed his eyes and silently groaned, this was definitely not how he envisioned the run going. He thought it was going to be in and out, just like the runs that he does to the city but apparently the roads were more dangerous than the Walker infested city.

Before the woman and T-Dogg could argue anymore Jim stepped up and laid a calming hand on T-Dogg's arm and gave him a pointed look and then turned to look at the woman, "Ma'am we are not here to hurt you, I don't know what made you think that but we are only here to look for some car parts, get some gas from these abandoned cars and find any supplies that would be of use to our people back at camp." He told her sincerely.

"Yeah I've been told that before," the woman scoffed. "That they aren't going to hurt me and that they just need a few supplies, and then it turns into needing half and that I am going to give it to them one way or another." She said and glared at them. "I've been down that road before, I ain't doing that again." She told them.

Jim sighed, "Ma'am please listen, we-"

The woman shook her head, "No you listen," she said in anger. "I am not in the mood to play games, I am not afraid of killing you guys if it means I will live and I will still have all of my supplies. I would rather not do it but I will if I have to." She said to them. "I am not a bad person but I will protect what is mine, this van here is mine, the supplies inside of it are mine and the gas in it is mine."

"Jesus lady," T-Dogg said with a sharp look. "We aren't going to take your shit, we are just here scavenging for our own supplies. We ain't planning on taking your things from you." He told her seriously. "I mean hell we didn't even know you were here till this guy ran into you." He said and gestured to Glenn who glowered at him.

For a moment the woman studied the three men and then shrugged, "be that as it may it's still hard for me to take you at your word, I already ran into two questionable groups of guys who wanted my supplies for their own and I didn't quite agree with that sentiment. Things didn't end well for them." She told them. "Now please, grab your things and go back to your camp. I really don't want any trouble, I'm too tired from traveling all the way from Arizona." She said with a sigh.

"Arizona?" Jim questioned. "Why'd you drive all the way here for?" he asked her.

She looked at him and glared, "None of your damn business." She stated hotly. "I think you should all leave now."

When the woman said that Jim took a good look at the woman, she was thin and looked as if she hasn't eaten a good meal in days, she had bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep that she's been getting and she just looked completely exhausted and worn out. It pulled at Jim's heart to see her like that, he may not know the girl but it was obvious that she has been through hell and back traveling all the way from Arizona to Georgia.

"You're traveling alone aren't you?" Jim suddenly stated and looked the woman in the eyes.

The woman narrowed her eyes at him, "So what if I am." She growled out at him. "What do you care?" she asked rhetorically.

"Lady we don't mean you any harm," T-Dogg said to her. "We know how hard it is to find supplies and get why you are protecting yours so fiercely but we aren't going to attack you." He said to her.

The woman rolled her eyes, "Yeah, the last group that said they didn't mean me any harm and weren't going to hurt me lied. Ended up having to fight for my life and let me just say that I did not come out unscathed." She said darkly and glared at them. "Leave. Now."

"We could help you," Glenn blurted out at the woman whose hold on the bow was starting to make him nervous, if she lifted her finger even half of an inch there would be an arrow in the middle of his forehead. "We can." He said a bit more calmly.

She looked at him skeptically, "Really? And how is that?" she asked. "And why should I let you help me?"

Instead of Glenn answering her question it was Jim, who was starting to think the woman was almost as stubborn as Daryl Dixon. "We can help you look for whatever it is that you drove all the way from Arizona to here for." He told her with a shrug. "It's not safe for anyone to travel alone; you need people to help you and to watch your back from the Walkers." He told her.

"Walkers?" the girl questioned, her determination wavering a sliver. "That what you call them? She asked and they nodded. "I call 'em Biters."

T-Dogg looked at the girl, "We could bring you with us back to camp." He said to her.

The woman shook her head vehemently, "And be surrounded by a large group of men?" she asked sarcastically. "Thanks but no thanks." She replied.

Just as Jim was about to respond to that comment the side door of the van opened up and out stepped a little girl who looked to only be around the age of six or seven at the most and had curly blonde/brown hair.

"Mama?" The little girl questioned and started to walk towards the woman but stopped suddenly when she saw her mother with her bow raised and three strangers standing in front of their van. "What's goin' on?"

The woman sighed, "Marlie I need you to get back in the van and shut the door and not open it until I come get you." She ordered her. "Right now Marlie."

Instead of listening to her mother like she should have, the little girl walked closer to her mother and grabbed onto her pant leg and glared over at the three men, "You need to go away!" she all but yelled at them. "You're not goin' to hurt my mama, you….you mean people. I hope you step on hunderds of Lego's." she said to them as fiercely as a little girl could. "I don't wanna see my mama hurts again." She said trying to hold back her sniffles.

Before the woman was able to say anything to her daughter, T-Dogg took pity on the poor distraught child. "No we ain't gonna hurt your mama, we're not those kind of people. We were tryin' to convince her to come with us to our camp where there are a lot more people. We wanna help you two." He said giving a small smile to her. "At our camp we have a few other kids who are around your age, two boys and two girls and I bet that they would be more than happy to have another kid around to play with. The girls especially."

Hearing that the little girl looked up at T-Dogg with wide grin and then looked over at her mom with an excited expression, "Mama can we go with them?" she asked hopefully.

"We don't know these people Marlie." The woman said to her sternly and then gave T-Dogg a cold glare that made him almost shiver where he stood.

The little girl pouted, "But mama I want to play with other kids not just you." She said to her and stomped her foot. "I want to be around other kids."

Jim hid his smile and then looked at the mother, "Ma'am we do have other kids in our camp and women too, we aren't just full of men." He explained reassuringly. "The camp is a few miles out, up near a quarry that we managed to find and take refuge at." He said. "You and your daughter can have a chance to get some solid meals in your bellies, get a some good nights of sleep and then decide what to do from there. We won't force you to stay there if you really don't like it but you could at least stay for a few days."

The woman sighed heavily and seemed to consider the offer that they gave her, she looked from Jim, to Glenn and then to T-Dogg before glancing down at her daughter who was gripping her pant leg and looking up at her hopefully. "How am I sure that you are being serious, that I can trust you at your work and that you aren't tricking me into a false sense of security?"

"You don't really," Jim admitted after a few moments. "But if it would make you feel better you can take Glenn with you, think of him as the insurance policy." He told her.

Glenn turned and gave Jim a dark look, "I am not a bargaining chip," he said and crossed his arms. "Don't I get any say in this?" he asked.

"Not if it makes her and her daughter feel more comfortable coming with us," T-Dogg stated and gave him a pointed look.

Sighing Glenn shook his head, "Fine. Whatever." He relented.

"Mama?" the little girl asked looking up at the woman. "Do we get to go with them? I want to play with other kids and have fun like I used to do at school."

The woman gave a tight smile to her daughter, "I don't know yet Mar." she said to her and seemed to weigh her options.

Jim looked at the woman and her daughter softly, "I know that the world is a cruel and harsh place right now, and it's especially hard to trust anyone but I give you my word that nothing will happen to you there. We humans are a dying race nowadays, the dead are taking over everything – we need to band together." He told her seriously.

For a few moments the woman looked at Jim, T-Dogg and Glenn intently, as if she was searching for some hidden motive in their facial expressions but found none, "Okay, I'll come with you guys." She said and slowly lowered her bow. "But be warned that if you cross me or lie to me I will not hesitate to kill you all in your sleep. Painfully." She threatened with a narrowed look.

"Noted," Glenn stated as he moved away from the girl a bit, she had just been pointed an arrow at her and she kind of scared him a bit.

T-Dogg eased up his tense frame and looked at the woman, "What's your name?" he asked.

"Natalie," the woman answered and then rested her hand on top of the little girls curly hair. "This is my daughter Marlie." She said introducing herself and her daughter.

Jim gave the two girls a small smile, "Do you have a last name?" he asked her with a joking smile. "I'm Jim Martin." He told her.

In response to that Natalie gave a half smirk and shook her head, "No offense but I don't know you people for shit, so I'm definitely not going to just give out my last name to anyone." she told them. "No offense."

"Mommy you said a bad word," Marlie said to her.

Hearing that made all of the adult's chuckle a bit, "You know me, I just can't seem to help myself sometimes" she said smiling down at her daughter gently and messing up her hair. "Just remember just because mom swears doesn't mean you can too. Only adults can swear." She told her and then turned her attention to the three men, "So now what, gonna take me to your leader?" she joked.

T-Dogg laughed at that, "Yeah, I think it's time to get on the road. I think we salvaged as much as we can for now." He stated.

"Glenn," Jim said looking at him and then nodded at the van that belonged to Natalie and Marlie.

Glenn sighed; he always seemed to get the short end of the stick no matter what it was. He got the shitty times to take watch, he always was the one who ran into town – though he was the best choice he knew it the best. But still.

"Ready to go?" Glenn asked as he looked at Natalie.

Natalie nodded, "Yup." She said and opened the side van door and ushered her daughter inside. "Let's get this show on the road." She said as she shut the door and then got in the driver's seat.

Even though Natalie wasn't threatening Glenn anymore and seemed to be a bit nicer and whatnot Glenn was still a bit nervous and hesitant to be around her. Like he said, he could take Walkers any day but this warrior woman was not someone he would ever want to cross. She may be small and petite looking but she sure knew how to scare someone to hell and back.

"If the female Legolas kills me on the way back I blame you two," Glenn muttered as he looked at both Jim and T-Dogg which made the two older men laugh.

Natalie opened her driver's side door and looked at Glenn, "Hey Glenn, get your ass in the car. I need someone to tell me how to get to this quarry of yours." She stated and then pulled herself back into the van.

Sighing heavily Glenn grudgingly made his way over to the van and plopped himself in the passenger seat and looked at Natalie hesitantly, it was definitely going to be an interesting ride back to the Quarry to the others.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Quarry: Natalie and Marlie ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

After driving a good twenty-five minutes from where Natalie had met up with Glenn, T-Dogg and Jim they had finally arrived at the quarry; the place was surprisingly welcoming looking. Natalie could see a few people mingling around, a few were cooking some food up, there were some people up top of an old RV with rifles – look outs, and there were even some kids sitting at a table laughing. Jim was right, these people weren't the sorts who would hurt and/or rape Natalie and steal her supplies. These were all just normal people trying to survive the end of the world.

"Hey, you okay?" Glenn asked as he opened the van door and jumped to the ground.

Natalie looked back at her sleeping daughter and then at Glenn and nodded, "Yeah. I'm good." She told him with a small smile, now more than ever she was feeling a bit guilty about threatening Glenn and holding him at arrow point so to say.

Glenn nodded and looked out at the quarry, "I'm gonna go and find Shane, he's our sort of village leader so to say. "Tell him about you guys and what's going on." He said and made to walk away before Natalie stopped him.

"Glenn?" she questioned.

He looked at her curiously, "Yeah?" he asked.

"Uh, I'm sorry for threatening you and basically showing my arrow in your face," Natalie hesitantly apologized; she was never good at apologizing to people.

That was something that Natalie and her husband had in common, she would usually bake people food for as an apology instead of saying the words outright.

Glenn looked at her for a few moments and waved her apology off, "It's fine. No big deal." He told her.

"It is to me," Natalie told him. "I don't apologize very often so feel honored," she said with a playful smirk on her face. "I was protecting myself and my daughter and our means of survival. If the world was anything like it was before shit hit the fan I would have never acted like that."

Hearing that Glenn gave a laugh, "A lot of people wouldn't act the way they do if the world wouldn't have gone to shit." He told her with an amused look.

Natalie gave a small smile, "Very true." She agreed.

"But," Glenn said with a sigh. "If it makes you feel better I accept your apology and whatever." He said to her.

"Thank you," Natalie said to him sincerely.

In response to that Glenn just nodded and ran off into the camp in search of Shane so that he could explain to him what happened on the run and to tell him about Natalie and her daughter joining their camp.

Once Glenn left Natalie took a deep breath and got out of the van to wake up her sleeping daughter who at the moment was sprawled out on the back seat and was looking very much like her father – when the two were really tired they slept exactly the same way.

"Marlie," Natalie said gently as she rubbed her daughter's face. "Come on Mar, wake up." She said with a smile. "We're here."

Slowly Marlie opened her eyes and blinked at her mom, "Mama?" she asked her.

Natalie laughed, "Yes?" she asked.

"We're here?" Marlie asked sitting up. "We're really at the camp with other kids?" she asked gaining a bit of her earlier excitement back.

"Yup," Natalie said with a nod. "We sure are." She told her.

Suddenly Marlie got up and off of the back seat and looked out the door of the van, "I want to go meet the other kids!" she said excitedly. "Can I go? Can I go? Can I go?" she asked as she was basically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Before Natalie was able to answer her daughter's question a male voice interrupted their conversation, "She's a little ball of energy isn't she?"

Turning around Natalie took a look at the man who spoke, he was tall, maybe around six foot or so, well-built and muscled – nice looking but not Natalie's type she wasn't into overly muscled guys. The man had a Mediterranean look with a large nose; he had a head of dark wavy hair and was grinning at her and her daughter.

"Should see her when she's hopped up on chocolate, she's ten times worse." Natalie said shaking her head. "My husband and I could barely keep up with her." she told him and gave a small grin to her daughter.

The man stuck his hand out to her, "Shane Walsh." He said to her in a friendly tone of voice.

Natalie eyed his hand a moment before grasping it in her own, "Natalie." She introduced.

"Just Natalie?" Shane asked with a curious expression.

"For now…..I've had issue with groups. I'll tell you my last name eventually." Natalie told him. "This is my daughter Marlie."

Marlie hopped out of the van and looked up at Shane, "Hello mister." She said to him. "I think you're a giant. Just like my uncle, he's really tall like you are too." She told him in her honest, childlike manner.

Shane laughed at that and grinned down at her, "Well I will take that as a compliment little one," he said to her. "If it's okay with your mom I'm sure Sophia and Carl wouldn't mind if you joined them over there." He said pointing to a table where there was a blonde haired girl and a pale boy with brown hair.

"Can I mama?" Marlie asked looking up at her mom hopefully; it's been so long since she's been able to play with other kids even if they were ones who were a few years older than her.

Natalie looked between Marlie's hopeful face and then over at where the two kids – Sophia and Carl were playing at, there were a few adults around them and an older grey haired lady who was sitting at the table with them. Marlie would be perfectly fine with them.

"Go on then," Natalie said with a shooing motion. "Be nice." She told her.

With a squeal Marlie hugged her mom's legs, "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you." She said and with that said ran off to go and join the other kids.

Turning away from watching her daughter run off Natalie instead closed the van door and then looked at Shane expectantly, "So Glenn told you what went on?" she questioned.

Shane nodded, "Yeah said that you were cautious and that you've had some issues with some other groups tryin' to take your supplies and whatnot." He said to her. "They didn't hurt you or anything?" he asked giving her a quick look over.

"Just this nice bruise," Natalie said pointing to her face. "And a couple scratches nothing that I can't handle." She told him with a shrug. "So how long have you guys been here?" she asked him and looked around at the quarry. "It's like a small piece of heaven in this hell."

Shane nodded at that statement, "Glenn knows the area well, he knows the city better but is pretty good with the outskirt area. Knew of this place and a few of us decided to head on up here to camp out, and we went out on patrols and scavenging trips and came back with a few people each time until there wasn't anyone left to bring back." He explained to her. "Come on," he said gesturing for her to follow him. "I'll show you around and introduce ya to a few people."

Nodding Natalie grabbed her car keys, a habit from the days when the world was a normal place and followed Shane further into the camp. She liked meeting new people but this many people at one time was even a bit much for her, she could only imagine what Daryl felt like if he met up with a big group like this.

"This here is Amy and her older sister Andrea," Shane said bringing Natalie over to a campfire where two blonde girls were cooking, one who looked to be in her thirties and the other maybe just getting into her twenties. "Girls this is Natalie." He stated.

"Hi!" The younger one, Amy said with a wide grin on her face. "It's nice to see new people around here." She told her.

"Thanks," Natalie said to her. "It's nice to be a round people who aren't trying to kill me." She said to her mostly serious but did gain a laugh from the comment.

Andrea looked at her and nodded, "Welcome to camp. If you need anything or need some girl time we're always willing to talk." She said and nudged her younger sister.

For the next while longer Shane introduced Natalie to most of everyone in camp; Dale an older man who was wearing a fishing hat and a Hawaiian shirt, Carol the grey haired woman that was sitting with the woman and who just gave her a tight smile, her husband Ed wasn't too far away watching her like a hawk. Natalie decided to keep her eye on Ed, she could tell from just the way Carol and Ed acted that Ed was not a nice man. Jacqui, a African-American woman who was more than welcoming and called her sweetie within only moments of meeting her, a man named Morales, his wife Miranda and their two kids Louis and Eliza. Then lastly Lori and her son Carl, apparently her husband had died a bit before the world went to shit and Shane was her husband's best friend and he has been taking care of them ever since.

"This may come off as rude," Shane started. "But we here at camp share supplies with one and another, it's what has kept us going for so long and allowed us to survive up here in relative peace." He told her. "I was just wondering if you-"

Natalie laughed and then looked up at him, "You were wondering if I was planning on sharing my supplies." She finished for him.

"Yeah, exactly." Shane said with a nod and rubbed the back of his neck. "You understand right?" he asked her hesitantly, he heard what Glenn had said about the woman and how fierce she was and would rather not piss her off on the first night.

Looking up at Shane Natalie nodded, "Yeah I get it Shane, but you need to understand I am only sharing some of my supplies not all." She admitted to him and before he could argue with her decision she kept on talking. "It's not that I'm not willing to share because I am but I'm not planning on being here all that long. Glenn or Jim told you that didn't they?" she asked.

At that Shane nodded his head, "Yeah they said that you drove all the way from Arizona, that you were looking for someone or something like that?" he questioned to make sure he got the information right.

"Yes," Natalie said with a nod. "My husband. We live here in Georgia, near Columbus but I went to visit my grandparents in Arizona when the world ended. I've been making my way here ever since." She told him. "Ran into a few problems along the way but I'm none the worse for wear." she said with a half-hearted smile.

What Natalie didn't admit was how much it was killing her to be away from Daryl, that each day they were apart was making her feel just that much more of hopelessness. It was that small bit of hopelessness that made her feel as if she was never going to see Daryl again, that she wouldn't be able to track him down and to just feel him once again.

Shane nodded, "I get it, no worries." He said with a sympathetic look. "Just give us what you can. Anything really helps." He told her.

"I don't have much for food supplies, but I do have medical supplies, tools and some basic survival gear and some clothes to share." Natalie told him. "I raided the local good will." She said with a shrug.

Hearing that Shane gave a small smile, "Thank you." He told her sincerely. "Just know you are welcome here for however long you want to stay, be it a week or indefinitely." He stated.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Quarry: few hours later: 4 PM ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Natalie was sitting next to Amy, Andrea and Carol and was just getting to know the three girls – she had barely been able to talk to Lori one of the only other women of the camp but she went into the woods to search for edible plants.

"So how long are you planning on staying?" Amy asked curiously.

Natalie shrugged as she was brushing Marlie's hair, "For a while, but me and Mar have a mission that we are doing." She told her and smiled down at her daughter.

That made Amy smile and then look at the small girl, "A mission?" she asked. "What kind of mission?" she asked.

"Finding daddy," Marlie said with a wide grin on her face. "We gots sep..seprited and now me and mommy are searchin' for him and when we find him we get to be a family again." She said happily.

Some days Natalie missed that childhood innocence, where an adult could tell her almost anything and she would believe it without questions asked. She would have hope and optimism. She's much too old for that now but she needs to be sure that Daryl isn't out there somewhere.

"Oh," Amy said and looked at Marlie and Natalie sadly, she was unsure on how to respond to that. "Well I'm sure you'll find him soon."

Marlie nodded, "Yup, and I can't wait. He tells the coolest bed time stories, with warrior princesses that I think he makes sound like me and mommy all of the time." She stage whispered.

For a moment Natalie closed her eyes and breathed deeply, some days were better than others. Some days she could accept that she and Daryl were separated and that he and Merle were out there somewhere but other days it was hard, it was so hard to look at Marlie and see Daryl but she was the one thing that gave her hope and kept her going. She just wished finding Daryl was as easy as it had sounded in her head.

Opening her eyes Natalie saw Andrea, Amy and Carol all staring at her in concern; she gave a tight smile and hugged Marlie to her. "We are definitely going to find dad soon. No doubts about it." She told her, only feeling half of the confidence that she was putting out.

Andrea looked at Natalie sadly, she could only imagine what it was like to lose your husband and be states away for so long and not knowing if he was alive or dead. It was something she hoped that she would never have to go through.

"Amy," Andrea said looking at her younger sister. "Why don't you take Marlie and Sophia down to the water to hang out for a while." She said giving her a pointed look and then gesturing at Marlie.

For a moment Amy opened her mouth to argue but eventually nodded, "Okay. Is that alright with you two?" she asked as she looked at Natalie and Carol.

Carol nodded tightly, "It's fine, make sure she doesn't fall in the water. We only have so many clothes." She told her.

"Marlie can go too," Natalie said looking at Amy. "The girls is like a fish." She said shaking her head.

Marlie gave her mom a flat look, "I'm not a fish, I'm a mermaid." She said and crossed her arms across her chest.

That made Natalie give a small laugh, "My bad." She said and reached over and gave her a hug. "Go to the water you little mermaid." She told her and gently pushed her towards Amy.

Amy just laughed, "Come on girls lets go down to the water, I have an awesome story about a mermaid to tell you guys." She said as she stood up and grabbed both Marlie and Sophia's hands and started to walk away. "We'll be back in an hour or so."

Once the girls had left hearing distance both Carol and Andrea looked at Natalie in concern, for the last few weeks she hasn't had anyone to worry over her and be concerned over what happened to her and now Andrea and Carol who have only known her for a few hours are already concerned about her. It was a nice feeling, knowing that humanity hasn't completely vanished and that there are good people out there who care about others wellbeing.

"Are you okay Natalie?" Andrea asked looking at her intently. "I mean-"

Before Andrea could finish that sentence Natalie nodded stiffly, "Yeah Andrea I'm fine, I'll be okay. It's just been a very long few weeks. Hard and long." She admitted.

Carol understood that, Natalie has been traveling alone for such a long time and was trying to keep herself and her daughter alive all while driving across Walker infested states. Experiencing something like that basically alone and with only yourself to count on was harsh, it was amazing that Natalie has survived so long. The woman was strong and brave there was no doubt about it.

"If you don't want to answer this you don't have to," Carol said to Natalie. "But your husband, is he dead?" she asked and looked at her worriedly. "Are you telling Marlie that he's still alive because you don't want her to hurt?" she asked.

Immediately Natalie shook her head, "No, never." She said adamantly. "I know my husband, and one thing I am sure of is that he is not dead. He's a survivor, him and his brother both are." She said with a half-smile on her face. "I just need to find him. It's been hell not having him here with me." She said and rubbed at her face and gave a slight wince when she pressed hard on the bruise that was on her face.

Carol accepted that, "I just wanted to be sure, I didn't mean to be mean or cold but I've met people who have been in denial about things like that. My own mother was one and I've seen the end result of that kind of denial." She told her quietly. "It's not healthy for you mentally and not fair to yourself or your daughter."

Natalie nodded, "I understand Carol, thank you for worrying but I know he's alive. I wouldn't lie to my daughter, not about something like that." she stated with a shake of her head. "When I was younger my mother used to joke saying that I was painfully blunt, I wouldn't lie to people even if it was to spare their feelings. I told it like it is, and it's something I still live by even if it does piss people off sometimes." She said.

Andrea smiled, "Honesty is better thing to have than a peace of mind." She told her.

With that said the three girls just sat in comfortable silence; Andrea and Carol were mending some of the group's clothes – though Carol was doing a better job than Andrea was. Natalie was sorting through some of the supplies that she was giving to the Quarry group; ammo, medical supplies which the group had the bare necessities, rope, a few tools and things like that.

Closing her eyes for a moment Natalie listened to the sounds of nature, hearing nature was one of the things that she has always loved about living in the country. Just being able to hear the wind blowing softly, animals calling out in the night, the chrips of the birds, crickets and everything in between, to Natalie it beat the busy sounds of the city any day.

At night, when Marlie was sleeping and Natalie was too paranoid to fall asleep in case a Biter/Walker came into camp Natalie would try and recall Daryl's voice – how low, gruff and rough it was, his voice was one of Natalie's favorite things especially since he wasn't a big talker when they first met. She didn't want a smooth talker who was suave and charming. She just wanted Daryl.

Suddenly Natalie was started out of her daydream when she swore she could hear her husband's voice in the distance, not just an echo of her memory or imagination but as if he was right there in camp somewhere.

"Natalie?" Carol asked looking at her curiously. "Is something the matter?" she asked.

"This is going to sound crazy," Natalie said turning to look at Carol and Andrea. "But I swore that I just heard my husband's voice."

Carol gave her a sad smile and was just about to open her mouth to say something comforting to Natalie when the sound of a gruff and raspy voice came from the woods and into the camp.

"Great," Andrea said with a dark look on her face. "The rednecks are back." She said unenthusiastically.

Giving Andrea an annoyed look for the redneck comment Natalie stood up from her spot besides the two women and walked a bit away from the girls and looked into the woods where she knew, she just knew that she heard the familiar voice of her brother in law. Merle had a distinct voice, there was no one else who sounded like him and if Merle was here that meant that Daryl wasn't too far away. Natalie knew she wasn't dreaming. Daryl and Merle were there.

"Natalie what's –"

Natalie held her hand up to Andrea and continued on looking out into the woods and she wasn't disappointed, within moments two familiar figures emerged from the wooded forest.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ TWD ~_~_~~~_~_ TWD ~_~_~_~_~

A/N: sorry i couldn't reunite Natalie and Daryl i was going to try in this chapter but then i needed but other things in here as well. Please forgive me. I promise next chapter.

Quote of the Day:

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

Helen Keller


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the walking dead though it is pretty bad ass, i wish i could have half the bad assness of it.

A/N: So i meant to get this done like a few days ago but i had a slight writers block and had to work, then i had a environmental Bio test to study for. being in college full time sucks some days. Any who i finally got it done and ready for you beautiful people to read.

A/N2: Smooches and as always i really do appreciate the reviews.

Chapter six

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Daryl & Merle ~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_

"Damn baby bro stop actin' like a huffy bitch," Merle said to Daryl as the two of them were walking through the woods . . . well Merle was walking but Daryl was angrily stomping his way back towards camp.

In response to that Daryl glared back at Merle, "I ain't actin' like a bitch." He yelled back at him. "We coulda had that deer." He mumbled to himself and eyed the woods carefully – just because they haven't gotten a walker up near the quarry yet doesn't mean they won't get one.

Early that morning both Merle and Daryl had headed out into the woods to do some hunting; the camps food supply was getting low and even with Glenn doing runs into Atlanta a majority of the nonperishable foods have been taken – looters took advantage of the panic. So it was up to Daryl and merle to hunt for the group – not like much of them were really made for camping let alone hunting for their own food and being able to skin in properly. If it weren't for the two Dixon brothers the whole camp would starve.

"Don't see what the big deal is," Merle stated indifferently. "Not like there ain't other deer out there," he told him and then gestured to the rabbits he was holding in his hand and the squirrels that Daryl had on a string slung over his shoulder. "Not like we didn't catch anything."

Daryl sighed heavily at that, of course his brother didn't get what the big deal was; he was enjoying the end of the world way too much. He was having fun rubbing the fact that none of the people back at camp knew how to survive and needed the help of two rednecks who they all think are trailer trash.

"Of course ya don't understand Merle," Daryl said to him as he stepped over a log that was in his path. "We coulda had that deer brother, we could of brought it back to camp and coulda had a good meal for once but your dumb ass decided to make too much damn noise and scare the damn thing away." He told him.

That made Merle laugh, "Ya coulda taken the shot baby brother, I wasn't the one with the crossbow that's all you. 'Stead of complainin' at me maybe you shoulda thought of takin' the shot before it was too late." He said to him with a flat look and strode ahead of his brother; he could just barely make out the edges of camp.

"That's not the point Merle!" Daryl told him in anger and readjusted the strong of squirrels that were thrown over his left shoulder and crossbow in his right hand ready to shoot in case of a Walker. "Ya don't get it."

Merle glanced at his brother but kept on walking, "What don't I get?" he asked.

"Just 'cause the alive people ain't hunting out here doesn't mean that the Walkers ain't doing it," Daryl told him with a dark look. "What do you think the Walker's are gonna eat when the alive people get to be less and less, it definitely ain't gonna be vegetation. They are gonna go after the next alive things – like deer."

When he said that Merle just scoffed, "There's always gonna be deer 'round Georgia to hunt, they don't seem to be goin' anywhere. Prolly too stupid to realize that the dead are walkin' around." He told him convincingly.

It was at moments like this when Daryl really wished that he hadn't been stuck with Merle in this apocalyptic end of the world scenario – hell he would even take Natalie's friend Klara who never shut up for a second, she could even talk a deaf man to his limit.

"Merle you-"

Before Daryl was able to finish that sentence Merle looked back at his brother with a smirk on his face, "Ya gonna keep on complain' at me like a housewife or are we gonna get our catches back to camp so we can get 'em ready and eat." He asked him with a raised brow. "I'm fuckin' starvin' and rabbit is startin' to sound real good." He told him as they finally reached the edge of camp.

In response to that Daryl glared at his brothers back, "God damn bossy fuckin' asshole." He said under his breath.

Just as Merle was about to respond to his brother's insult's Merle suddenly stopped short at the sight that was in front of him, not standing even five feet away and looking unsure of herself was Natalie. Natalie who both he and Daryl had thought died in Arizona after a very chaotic phone call yet here she was, a little haggard looking but alive nonetheless. Grinning widely Merle looked back at his brother who was scowling at the ground as he approached and then back at Natalie.

"Hey Daryl!" Merle called gaining his brother's attention. "Think I found somethin' you've been missin' for a while." He told him off hand.

Daryl looked up at Merle with a confused expression on his face, "What the fuck are you-"

Before he could finish that sentence though Daryl looked up and saw what Merle was talking about, Natalie was there in camp standing only a few feet from where he was. For a few moments Daryl just stood there and looked at her, he wasn't sure if he was imagining things or not.

"Gonna go greet your wife or what boy?" Merle asked as he looked at his shocked brother.

Those were all the words that Daryl needed before he dropped the squirrels that he had, tossed his crossbow unceremoniously to the ground and all but ran over to Natalie with a determined purpose. The weeks that the two have been separated have been hell on the both of them and at the moment Daryl needed to touch Natalie, to feel her, to hear her and to be able to smell her to make sure that Natalie was really there with him and that he wasn't imagining things.

Not even pausing once he was within arm's reach of Natalie, Daryl cupped his wife's face and pulled her towards him and kissed her as passionately as he was physically able. In response to the kiss Natalie wrapped one arm around Daryl's neck deepening the kiss even more and then curled her hand into the collar of his sleeveless shirt to pull his as close to her as she possibly could.

The kiss the two shared was fiery and passionate, two words that described Natalie and Daryl perfectly. It was filled with all of the worry that the two had for one and another during their time that they were separated, it was filled with relief knowing that they were both okay and happiness at finally being reunited together and being about to feel the other.

It was Daryl who pulled away first but he kept his arms secured around Natalie's waist, he wasn't going to be letting her go anytime soon. Resting his forehead against her's, he looked down into her deep, dark brown eyes and gave a smile that was reserved only for her.

"I love you," Daryl said without hesitation, not caring if everyone in camp could hear him saying and acting tender towards someone. "I thought you died." He whispered to her.

Natalie looked up at him with watery eyes and gave a small smile in return, "I'm your wife Daryl, I may not be the best hunter in the world but I did learn from the best. I'm a survivor." She said to him playfully before more tears started to roll down her face. "I love you Daryl. God I love you." She said to him and pulled herself that much closer to him.

It only took Daryl a moment to realize that Natalie was sobbing against his chest; he could feel her tears against his neck and feel her body trembling against his. Closing his eyes momentarily Daryl lifted one hand from Natalie's waist and comfortingly ran it through her hair, hoping that the gesture would help soothe her and calm her down. They both have been through hell and back, but Natalie he was guessing has been through more than just hell traveling just to find him and managing to survive.

"Marlie?!" Daryl asked in a panic as quickly glanced around camp for the little girl but didn't see her, he gently pulled Natalie away from him enough so that he could look into her face. "She…she's not…she's okay?" he questioned hesitantly not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Natalie took a deep calming breath to keep herself from starting to sob again, she feels kind of embarrassed about crying like a little girl in front of a bunch of strangers but not much that she could do now. "Marlie is fine Daryl, perfectly fine." She told him with a smile. "She's with Amy and Sophia by the water."

Once Daryl gave a sigh of relief Natalie just laid her head against his chest and breathed, this is the first time in a long time that she has been able to just breathe and feel safe or rather as safe as a person could during a zombie apocalypse. She's been through hell, she's nearly been killed and had other unmentionable things done to her but somehow Natalie has managed to make it to Georgia with her daughter in tow. She managed to keep the both of them safe and Biter free.

A throat clearing from behind the couple pulled Natalie and Daryl from their intimate moment, glancing behind him Daryl and Natalie saw Shane looking between the two curiously.

"What?" Daryl asked with a glare on his face, annoyed that his moment with his wife was interrupted.

"Would ya two like to explain what the hell's goin' on?" Shane questioned them.

Sighing heavily Natalie reluctantly let go of Daryl and tried to step a bit away but Daryl kept a tight hold of her waist, just as she opened her mouth to explain who exactly Daryl was to her – though it should have been obvious with the display the two put on right in the middle of camp, but before she was able to Merle jumped in on the conversation.

Merle glanced at Shane, "What does it look like pig? My brother is greetin' his wife after the two of 'em have been sep'rated for the last few weeks. We thought the girl was dead, but 'parently we were wrong." He told him as he leaned up against the RV and crossed his arms over his chest. "They was kissin' like teenagers on prom, what did ya think was goin' on?" he asked.

"Hold up," Andrea said standing up from where she and Carol had been sitting. "He's your husband." She said appalled as she pointed at Daryl who narrowed his eyes in response. "Daryl Dixon is the husband you came all the way looking for?" she asked in disbelief.

For a moment Natalie couldn't believe the tone of voice Andrea was using when referring to Daryl, looking at Daryl Natalie gave him a raised brow before turning back to Andrea with a dark look on her face. "Yes Andrea. Daryl is my husband and has been for almost six years now." She said snidely, why should it surprise her that Daryl and Merle didn't have very many fans at the camp. "We were getting along just fine a while ago Andrea what the hell is your problem?" she asked folding her arms.

Andrea shook her head, "I don't have a problem with you, I have a problem with them." She said gesturing to Daryl and Merle. "Didn't picture you as the type to associate with their type." She said.

"Andrea I don't think you-" Carol started but decided against it when she saw that both Natalie and Andrea were too far into the argument.

Merle smiled to himself when he saw how riled up Natalie got when Andrea said that, one thing Natalie could do was act like a downright vicious bitch when defending people she deemed worthy and Andrea is just about to get a small taste of that. He couldn't wait.

Stepping a bit away from Daryl and towards where Andrea and the others were gathered Natalie glared at the blonde woman, "No offense Andrea but we just met today and I really doubt that has given you much time to get to know me. You don't know what kind of elope I associate myself with, you don't know the kind of people I grew up with and was friends with." Natalie said to her snidely and shook her head. "You don't know the kind of family and home life I had. For all you know I could of grown up in a trailer park and there's no doubt in my mind that a majority of you all think of my husband and brother-in-law as trailer park white trash." She said passionately.

It may have been a bit twisted of him but Daryl found the whole Natalie yelling at Andrea terribly sexy of his wife, and she wasn't just yelling at Andrea but she was yelling at the whole group for assuming things about Daryl and Merle. Hell if Natalie wouldn't get angry at him Daryl would throw Natalie over his shoulder and take her to his tent and have his wicked way with her because of the way she is acting – he can't help but get turned on when she got angry, she looked so fiery, passionate and wild.

Before the argument between the two girls could get much worse Dale stepped in, "I think that's enough arguing, let's calm down and act like the adults we are." He said and sent a pointed look to Andrea.

The girls had been getting along just fine earlier in the day but the moment Andrea found out that Natalie was married to Daryl she did a total backflip and looked at Natalie differently. It didn't bother Natalie all that much, she was kind of hurt but it wasn't that big of a deal. Hell some of her own family wanted Natalie to stop seeing Daryl but Natalie refused – the ones who didn't support her weren't worth her time. She definitely wasn't going to let Andrea's problems affect her.

"Okay then," Shane said as he hesitantly looked between the fighting blondes hoping neither were going to start fighting again, he really wasn't in the mood to try and stop a cat fight. "You're Daryl's wife?" Shane asked as he looked at Natalie, to which she responded with a blank look. "Right," he said looking from her to her husband. "Why didn't you tell us Daryl?" he asked.

Shane couldn't; understand how Daryl landed such a nice and beautiful looking woman when he was a red neck hunter from out in the middle of nowhere, personally Shane believed that Natalie could do so much better but from the way they greeted each other when they first saw one and another he guessed they were in love. Who was he to judge who was too good for another person, hell he loved Lori when he knew he shouldn't.

When he asked that Daryl gave Shane a disdainful look, "It wasn't any of ya'll's business." He told them hotly. "Still ain't. Sides, like Merle said I thought she was dead and didn't wanna talk 'bout it. Simple as that. Don't need none of ya diggin' up into my personal life." He stated simply.

"Daryl we wouldn't ha-" Dale started to say to him but was cut off by the man himself.

Daryl glared at Dale, "Did I ask for ya input old man?" he asked him.

The moment the words left Daryl's mouth Natalie slightly turned to give him a disapproving look and then hit him lightly on the chest, he just glanced at her with a 'what did I do' sort of look which made her roll her eyes.

Natalie pinched his side lightly, "Be nice Daryl." She whispered so only he could hear her.

"Look," Merle said breaking into the conversation. "Natalie is Daryl's wife, end of story okay. Are we fuckin' done discussing this, geeze it's like ya people ain't got lives of your own to live. Let's break it up and make some food. I'm damn hungry." He stated.

Lori took pity on the couple being interrogated, "Come on people let's leave 'em alone." She said and gave Natalie a gentle smile before ushering her son along with her to where she had been cleaning the meager wild vegetables they were able to hunt down.

So with that said everyone went back to whatever it was they were doing, Dale and T-Dogg went back up to the RV roof to take watch, Andrea went back to helping Carol mend some clothes; Shane, Glenn, Jim and the other members of camp went to do who knows what.

Merle looked at Natalie and grinned, "So you gonna give me a welcome like ya did for Daryl here?" he asked with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"You wish," Natalie snorted at him but went over to him and pulled him into a tight hug which he returned. "Missed ya Merle. Glad you weren't ate by a Biter, even if you are a perverted ass at times." She joked.

That made Merle guffaw, "Nothin' can kill ol' Merle but Merle." He told her confidently.

Natalie smiled at that, "Better keep it that way." She told him half joking, half serious.

"Sir, yes sir." Merle said with a halfhearted salute.

Watching the two Daryl rolled his eyes, he had no idea how their friendship worked but for some odd reason it worked for the two of them. They insult each other and banter all of the time but it was as if those insults were how they told each other they cared.

Merle looked between Natalie and Daryl and shook his head, "What are ya two waitin' for go and get yer daughter." He said waving them off. "I'mma skin and clean these so we can cook 'em up." He said as he lifted the rabbit's in his hand and then grabbed the string of squirrels that Daryl had dropped.

"You amy not want to admit it but you are sweet sometimes Merle," Natalie said as she gently reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

Pulling a face Merle pushed Natalie away and into Daryl's arms, "Keep that crazy Yankee away from me. Sayin' I'm sweet an' shit. That ain't happenin' not ever." He said shaking his head and grumbling to himself as he walked over to where he and Daryl had set their tents up at – a bit away from where the rest of the camp was but close enough to still be a part of it.

"C'mon," Daryl said as he grabbed Natalie's hand and tugged her towards the way to the quarry. "Let's go get Marlie."

~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_ TWD ~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~

Marlie, Amy and Sophia were down at the quarry by the water; Sophia was up to her knees in the water and Marlie was sitting beside Amy on a rock splashing her little feet in the water and smiling. Sometimes Amy wished she was a kid again, especially when she glanced at Marlie who was so easily pleased by playing in the water.

"So Marlie," Amy started gaining the six year olds attention. "Would it be okay if I asked you a question?" she asked her.

"Uh huh," Marlie responded with a nod but still kept on splashing in the water, just barely getting the ends of her capris wet.

Amy gave her a small smile, "Can I ask you about your dad?" she asked to be sure before she started.

Hearing the mention of her dad Marlie looked up at Amy with a big grin, "Yeah! I love talking about daddy." She said and then looked down in her lap. "I miss him lots and lots but me and mama are gonna find 'im. I know it." She said stubbornly.

That made Amy grin slightly, "What's your daddy like?" she asked.

"My daddy is the bestest ever," Marlie said and looked up into the skies. "He knows all sorts of things. He's a hunter and can protect me from anythin' and everythin' he tolds me so and so did mama. That's why we gots to get back to him so he can protect us." She told Amy with a sad smile. "My mama has been hurts a bit since we left 'Zona for here, my mama is like Xena the warrior princess but even warrior princesses need protectin' too." She said to her with a decisive nod.

"Xena?" Sophia asked with a confused look and glanced at Marlie.

Marlie nodded, "Mhmm. Mama tells me stories about her, she's a princess and a warrior who fights bad people and wins. She's strong and fierce just like my mama and protects her family and friends just like my mama did for me. My mama protected me from all the Biters that was after us." She told her.

Amy looked at Marlie curiously, "Biters?" she asked. "Is that what you call them?" she asked.

"Mama does, I just call 'em monsters." Marlie answered truthfully. "They scare me, I don't wanna get hurt by one of them." She told them.

That made Amy look at Marlie with a sad smile, being bit or scratched by those things was something that everyone had to look out for. "Your Mom will protect you and once you find your daddy he's gonna protect your mama and you." She told her.

Marlie nodded at that but then looked up at Amy, "Who is gonna protect my mama until we find daddy?" she asked with a genuine fear in her eye.

"Everyone at camp," Amy answered without a pause. "We all protect each other." She told her.

Before Marlie was able to say anything else about her dad to Amy and Sophia there was the sound of a feminine voice yelling out to Marlie, turning around Marlie saw that it was her mom but she grinned widely when she saw who was besides her mom. It was her daddy, he looked dirtier than usual but there he was with his crossbow slung behind his shoulder and was looking right back at Marlie.

"DADDY!" Marlie squealed in excitement.

Stumbling over her feet, Marlie got out of the water and ran up the few feet of the quarry to where her mom and dad were standing looking at her. Not even thinking Marlie jumped up at her dad and he caught her with ease and spun her around a few times before he finally stopped and held her to him.

"I love you daddy, me and mama have missed you sooo much." Marlie said with her arms wrapped around her dad's neck.

Hearing those words made Daryl smile; Natalie may be his strength and passion but Marlie was his baby girl, she was his light and what made him want to be a better man and a better father than his own ever was.

"I love you Marlie," Daryl whispered into her hair and kissed her temple lightly. "I love both you and your mama." He told her.

As this was enfolding Amy couldn't help but watch it with a gaping mouth, here she was envisioning at all, muscled person as Marlie's dad but it was Daryl. She couldn't believe that such a sweet girl could come from a foul mouthed man like Daryl, but even so she was glad that Natalie and Marlie were reunited with Daryl they deserved that happiness.

"Come on Sophia," Amy said standing up and holding her hand out to the twelve year old girl. "Let's head on back to camp, I'm sure your mom will be expecting you back soon." She told her.

Sophia sighed but nodded and reluctantly got out of the water, "Okay." She said and took the older girls hand.

As Amy and Sophia passed by the newly reunited family Amy paused, "I'm happy you all found one and another." She said glancing at Daryl who had Marlie still in his arms and to Natalie who was leaning gently against Daryl's back.

Daryl glanced at Amy before giving a nod but saying nothing else as acknowledgment, it was what she expected. Natalie gave her a watery smile, "Thank you Amy." She told her genuinely.

"We're heading back to camp." Amy stated as she nodded down at Sophia. "See ya there." She said to them.

For a moment Daryl enjoyed the moment, he was holding his daughter in his arms and his wife was standing just behind. They were both alive and he was more thankful than anything for that small wonder. Lifting his head, Daryl looked back at Natalie and kissed her – it wasn't like the earlier kiss that was full of heat and passion but it was tender and sweet. A kiss of love.

"Daddy?" Marlie questioned as she looked pulled away a bit and looked at him.

Daryl tuned and looked down at her, "Yeah Marlie?" he asked as he brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. "What's goin' on in that little head of yours?" he asked.

At that Marlie gave him a small amused smile, "You're gonna protect us now right?" she asked him as she looked into Daryl's eyes seriously. "Me and mama, you'll protect us from them monsters?" she asked.

"Of course I am," Daryl said to her. "It's what dad's do for their families. Protectin' them from anything that they need protectin' from." He told her without room for argument. "I love ya two, ain't anythin' gonna sep'rate us now." He stated.

Hearing that Marlie nodded, "Good." She said and laid her head back down near the nape of her father's neck.

~_~_~_~_~ TD ~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~~_~_ TWD ~_~_~_~_~ TWD~_~

Quote of the Day: We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have **weird** names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: As usual not mine. Sad face.

A/N: So this is more of a filler chapter but at least its another chapter, tell me what you like and all that i was trying to keep Daryl in character still while still making him act like a husband and father - no idea how hard that was until i started to write it.

A/N: Thank you for all of the followers/favorites/Reviews. I appreciate them all and love reading them.

Chapter seven

Natalie, Daryl and Marlie walked into camp or rather Natalie and Daryl did and Marlie was being carried by Daryl still – she was refusing to let go. Natalie didn't blame her, if she could get away with hanging on Daryl for a few hours she would but she was an adult and knew better than that, not to mention she was a bit big to be able to pull that off. Now if a bed was available to do that it would be a whole different story.

The moment the small family walked back into camp everyone stopped and stared for a few moments when they saw that Daryl was carrying Marlie, but with one pointed scowl at the on lookers the group went back to what they had been doing.

"Where's ya stuff at?" Daryl asked as he gently put Marlie on the ground.

Natalie gestured over towards the dark van that was parked behind T-Dogg's, "In there." She told him.

He glanced over at her, "That ain't your car." Daryl told her with a curious look.

"Some kids stole our car at the beginning of all this so I had to improvise," Natalie said with a shrug as the three of them headed towards the van to get the girls' belongings.

Marlie grabbed onto her dad's hand and happily skipped over to the van, "We got to make a fort in there a couple day's ago," she said with a grin. "It was too late to get into the forest and sets up our tent so we stayed in the van. Pinned blankets up and everything. I was scared at first but mama will always protect me."

Daryl looked over at his wife curiously, in response she shrugged and mouthed 'walkers' to him, using the term that everyone in camp has been using for referring to the dead. He nodded in understanding and gave a tight smile, he wished so badly that he would have been with them to protect them from all of the walkers that they have probably run into over the last few weeks but he wasn't. Natalie was strong and resilient and she made it here in tact so Daryl knew he shouldn't worry about what already happened.

Once Natalie opened the van Daryl whistled lowly at the supplies she had, it wasn't a lot but it was more than one single person would usually have for just themselves, he glanced at Natalie and Marlie. "What'd you do threaten the army?" he joked to her.

"Close, but no." Natalie said as she climbed into the van and grabbed her army style duffel bag and started to throw some of her clothes that were laying around into it. "We-"

Marlie broke in before her mother could finish the sentence, "We got to break into a hospital," she said to him proudly. "Mama said we had to wait a few days before we could get in there but when we did mama grabbed a whole lotta stuff." She said spreading her arms out wide.

Daryl grinned down at her and then looked at Natalie, "A hospital huh?" he asked.

She shrugged, "Well it was there and it's not like the medicine was gonna be used anytime soon so I took advantage of an opportunity." Natalie said with a smirk on her face. "Though, let's not tell Merle about what I got. Yeah?" she asked subtly referring to merle's drug use habits.

"Prolly be best," Daryl nodded. "Keep it locked then." He suggested to her quietly.

They both knew that Merle wasn't going to stop his drug use anytime soon even with the dead walking around trying to eat people, and the only way he would quit was if he did something stupid that almost kills him. But until that time comes up Natalie and Daryl knew to keep the shit that Merle might want locked up and out of sight and out of mind – hopefully that would work.

Natalie tossed her bag out the door to Daryl who deftly caught it before it could hit him in the chest, "Coulda warned me woman." He said to her.

"Pfft," Natalie said with a shake of her head. "Where's the fun in that." She said to him with a grin on her face and crawled further into the van and started to roll up the sleeping bags that were on the floor.

As Natalie did that it gave Daryl the perfect view of her ass, an ass that he has missed very much. Natalie was not the skinny type and Daryl wouldn't want her any other way, he wanted to have a woman with meat on her bones that could take a bit of the harder kid of sex once in a while. Which he and Natalie both enjoyed more than just once in a while. If Marlie wasn't sitting on the edge of the van swinging her legs around Daryl would definitely consider shutting the van door and having his way with Natalie, it has been a long time since they were able to do that but now wasn't the time. He was just reunited with Marlie and Natalie he wanted to spend time with the both of them right now.

"Here Marlie," Natalie said handing a smaller purple princess backpack o her daughter and then set a small plain black one onto the ground.

Natalie tossed the sleeping bags next to Daryl before grabbing her weapons; she already had her knife strapped to her thigh and one handgun strapped to the same belt but she grabbed another gun, her bow and arrows and then handed Daryl another hand gun and some ammunition.

"How many places did ya rob exactly?" Daryl asked in amusement.

Glancing back at her husband Natalie shrugged, "Enough." She said simply. "Why, you jealous you didn't think of it?" she grinned.

Daryl gave a deep laugh before looking at her intensely, "Nah, I find it kinda hot is all." He stated and lightly traced a line up her spine with his calloused hand.

Breathing in deeply Natalie gave him a look, "I know what you're doing. Stop distracting me." She whispered to him as she pursed her lips.

"Don't know what ya talkin' 'bout." Daryl said with a wolfish grin.

Marlie looked between her parents confused as to what was going on before shrugging to herself, "You two are bein' silly." She said looking up at them.

Hearing that Daryl gave his daughter a look and gave her a predatory smirk, "Silly? I'm being silly?" he asked to which Marlie nodded with a giggle. "I'll show you silly." He said and without warning grabbed Marlie around the waist and tickled her into a fit of giggles.

Smiling to herself Natalie stared out at the sight of Daryl and their daughter; it was nice to see Daryl carefree when they were in a camp full of people. Usually Daryl only acted like this when they were home alone, the only people other than Natalie and Marlie that Daryl would dare to act like this around was Merle and Natalie's close friend Karsci.

"Stop it daddy!" Marlie yelled happily. "I can't stop laughin' now." She told him with a big grin on her face.

Daryl gave a small smile to her and let her drop to the ground, "Fine, fine. Take all my fun away." He joked to her and then looked up and saw that everyone was staring at him, he glared hotly at everyone. "What ya'll lookin' at. Mind ya own damn business." He said with a shake of the head. "Geeze people."

Marlie looked up at her dad, "You said a bad word." She told him.

"I know, just can't seem ta help it." Daryl said to her as he ran his hands through his hair. "Just don't say bad words till ya are older. Hear me?" he asked and looked at her expectantly.

"Yes dad," Marlie said with a nod.

He smiled at her and then looked at Natalie, "We ready yet or what?" he asked.

Hearing the impatience in his voice Natalie rolled her eyes, "You can wait all night and a day for a deer to come by while you're hunting but you can't give me fifteen minutes to pack up my shit?" she asked with a cocked hip and a raised brow.

"Yeah, yeah. Not the same thing." Daryl said as he grabbed Marlie and Natalie's duffel bags in one hand and stuffed the new hand guns Natalie gave him into his pants belt. "Ya ready?" he asked.

Natalie grinned at him and glanced back towards the camp and saw Shane, Lori and Lori's son Carl sitting near an unlit campfire. "I'm gonna talk to Shane really quick. M'Kay?" she asked looking over at Daryl.

When Natalie said that Daryl scowled, "Nat we just got done dealin' with 'im." He said to her. "Don't ya think it can wait?" he asked as he closed the door of the van for Natalie.

"I'll be quick," Natalie said as she locked the van. "Just gotta tell him something then I will be right over to yours and Merle's tent's." she told him and leaned up to kiss his cheek that had stubble on it lovingly. "I promise."

He grunted, "Go on. Hurry up though, don't trust him." Daryl said to her as Marlie put her princess backpack on.

Natalie rolled her eyes, "You just don't trust cops," she said knowingly. "I know how to deal with cops don't worry. Done it for you and Merle for last few years." She said to him.

"Whatever," Daryl said to her and guided Marlie towards where his and Merle's small camp was at.

Natalie just smiled at him and headed towards where Shane was, sometimes she swore her husband hated people just because he could. So far Natalie didn't see any reason for her to not trust Shane, but then again Daryl has been there longer so what did she know.

"Hey Shane," Natalie said as she approached the camp. "Hey Lori, Carl." She said nodding at the last two and saw that Carl was doing math problems and grimaced. "I never liked math when I was in school. I was terrible at it." She said off hand.

Carl looked up at her, "I've having problems with long division." He told her. "That many numbers shouldn't be meant to be divided." He complained to her.

Smiling at him Natalie turned to look at Shane, "So I just wanted to say that since I found my husband and all that I was-"

"You're planning on staying now," Shane cut in with a mix between a smile and a frown, which made Natalie look at him confused but brushed it off and figured it was just Merle and Daryl being Dixon's – causing trouble all the time.

Natalie nodded, "Yeah." She told him. "I can share more than what I planned on since, ya know I don't need the supplies to travel all across Georgia to find him." She said with a small smile on her face.

Looking at Natalie for a few moments Shane nodded, "Yeah I get that." He told her genuinely.

Nodding Natalie stuffed her hands in her pants pockets, "Okay then, I'm gonna go head over to Daryl and Marlie now." She said but not before she looked at Shane. "If you ever are short on people to do look out up there I'm more than willing." She said offhand as she gestured over to the RV.

Shane nodded, "I'll keep that in mind." He told her.

With a nod Natalie left Shane, Lori and Carl alone and went and headed over to her own family, stepping within sight of the Dixon camp Natalie smiled to herself when she saw Marlie basically glued herself to her uncles side who was cutting up some of the animal meat that they were able to hunt down.

"See you got yourself a leech Merle." Natalie joked as she went to sit down in a chair besides Daryl.

Merle grinned, "Can't help that the lil' lady likes my company, she knows who the most fun person is 'round here." He said and winked down at Marlie. "Ain't that right?" he asked.

Natalie looked over at Daryl who rolled his eyes, "More like the weirdest." She stage whispered to him.

"Hey now!" Merle said offended. "Be nice to the man who hunts your food." He told her.

In response to that Daryl gave his brother an incredulous look, "Pretty sure it was me who caught the rabbits not ya ugly face." He told him.

Merle just grumbled and proceeded to teach Marlie about skinning an animal and gutting it – most girls her age didn't want to learn about that stuff but growing up with Daryl for a dad and Merle for an uncle it was bound for her to learn one way or another. Not to mention with the world as it is, it's better for her to learn sooner than needing the skill and not knowing what to do.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ ~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Dinner: 7 pm ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

After a bit of convincing, well after begging on Natalie's part and Marlie giving her dad and uncle the puppy dog face repeatedly Daryl and Merle gave in to sit at the main campfire for dinner rather than being the anti-social bastards they are. Natalie's word's.

"Chink man," Merle said loudly looking at Glenn. "Hand me some of that squirrel there." He said to him.

Glenn sighed at the name but handed the man the dish, it really was not worth it to get in a fight with Merle Dixon over a derogatory insult. He's become immune to it over the last few weeks so it wasn't really that big of a deal.

When Natalie heard what Merle said and looked at Glenn and saw the look of annoyance on his face she turned to Merle, "Hey Merle?" Natalie questioned with a calm tone of voice.

"Ya spitfire?" Merle asked as he took some more of the meat onto his plate and then glanced at his sister-in-law.

"remember how I didn't allow racist comments in my house?" Natalie asked him with a pointed look.

Glenn, T-Dogg, Dale, Shane, Lori and the rest of the camp were watching Natalie and Merle in interest; ever since the two brothers arrived there and Merle started swinging racist comments to and fro not one person has yelled at them for it since the first day and that day did not end well. So being able to see how Merle would react to family telling him off for his racist comment was going to be a sight to see.

Merle looked at Natalie and nodded, "Yeah, we ain't at your home." He told her.

"Don't care Merle," Natalie told him evenly. "No racist comments around me or Marlie. I don't care what you think about it but those are the rules." She told him. "You agreed to them when we first met and when Marlie was born. Keep them up." She stated.

"Whatever, you friends with the china man now?" Merle asked her. "Only been a day." He said.

Daryl looked at his brother and sighed, Merle and him may be brothers but sometimes they couldn't have more opposite views of the world.

That made Natalie shake her head, "I do have Asian friends." She told him. "So either say something nice or don't say anything at all."

"Fuckin' fine you crazy little….." Merle started to say but grumbled the rest under his breath.

To say the other camp members were surprised would be an understatement, most of the time Daryl can't even get Merle to stop being an ass and talking shit yet here is this small barely five foot three tall blonde haired woman telling him what is what and he grudgingly going along with what she says.

"Were you a mediator or something before the world went to hell?" T-Dogg asked as he glanced between Natalie and Merle.

That made Natalie laugh, "No, not in the slightest. I just grew up with a lot of cousins and used to work at a bar, I know how to handle people." She answered.

Marlie suddenly grinned at everyone, "people get to hear my mama every day, she talks 'bout music and gets to play with a cool computer and microphone." She said proudly.

"Not every day," Natalie said shaking her head at her daughter and then looked at the rest of the group. "I worked in radio and taught recreational tree climbing." She said with a shrug.

"Like a damn monkey," Daryl said as he glanced at Natalie and continued eating his food.

Daryl wasn't a big people person or really a social person, he preferred the woods to people some days but he knew Natalie liked people and having friends and wanted him to at least talk with people other than herself and Merle. So at least he was trying, but he wasn't going to go out of his way to do it or anything.

Natalie smiled at Daryl before turning to T-Dogg, "What did you do before this?" she asked gesturing around them.

"I was a cook," T-Dogg answered. "At some fancy, overpriced restaurant. But I got to tweak the menu and do what I love." He told her with a grin. "Ever want a good home cocked Louisiana style meal come to me." He said to her.

When he said that Natalie laughed a bit, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind T-Dogg." She said to him shaking her head.

Daryl gave T-Dogg a dark, threatening look but said nothing else. He wasn't jealous because he knew Natalie and knew that she would never look at another man like she looked at him but didn't mean he liked other men being around her and making her laugh.

"What's are we eating again?" Marlie asked as she looked at her mom and dad.

Instead of either of them answering it was Merle, "Rabbit and squirrel. Ain't nothin' like steak but good rodents to eat." He told her.

"Mmmm, yummy yummy in my tummy bunny." Marlie said rubbing at her belly as she chewed her food. "Mama got a bunny a few days ago too. It was very good."

"She did?" questioned Dale curiously, from what he saw of Natalie he didn't figure her to be the hunting type but then again she was married to Daryl Dixon.

Marlie nodded happily, "Mhmm, we hunted it down and tada," she said clapping her hands together. "We got the bunny."

When Marlie said that both Daryl and Merle looked at Natalie shocked, "You shot a rabbit?" Daryl asked skeptically.

"Yes Mr. Almighty hunter," Natalie said to him. "Your wife hunted down a rabbit." She told him proud of herself, the only animals . . . well animal she can usually get when she went hunting with Daryl was a deer, they were large and easier to spot. "I didn't always ignore you from boredom when you took me out hunting when we first got together." She stated.

That made Jaqui and Amy grin to themselves when Natalie said that, "Ha!" Amy said in response to that. "She sure told you."

Daryl just rolled his eyes at the young former college student, "Ain't that hard if you know what to do and how to track," he said as he gave Natalie a look. "Did ya track it." He asked knowing she couldn't track well at all. "Or was it a lucky shot?" he grinned.

"Shut up." Natalie glowered at him.

"It was by a tree," Marlie piped up. "It was just sittin' there doin' nothing and mama took her bow out and shot it."

Merle looked at Natalie, "So it wasn't; because of your ability to listen to Daryl and I when we took ya out huntin' it was pure luck and opportun'ty." He said to her.

In response to that Natalie shook her head and looked at the rest of the group, "Any of you guys hunt or is it just my boys who do the hunting?" she asked curiously.

"No," Dale said to her a bit sheepishly. "Not many of us can hunt, we know how to use the guns to protect ourselves from the walkers but not how to hunt down animals." He told her.

When he said that Natalie had an unbelievable look on her face, "Seriously?" she asked. "No one?"

Merle laughed, "These city folk don't know shit about huntin' prolly don't even know how to cut it right or anythin' like that." He scoffed.

It was surprising with a group this large that there were only two people in the whole thing who knew how to hunt, a sad and bitter reality. People got too used to food being readily available to them in grocery stores that barely any decided to learn how to hunt for their own meat and skin it themselves.

Dale shrugged, "I never had a reason to learn, lived in a nice sized city before my wife passed last year." He said to her.

Amy spoke up at that point, "Me and Andrea can fish, our dad taught us how to do it." She said conversationally.

Looking over at Amy and Andrea who were sitting close together Natalie saw that Andrea was staring at Natalie with a studying look, as if she was trying to pick her apart in some way or another. Natalie didn't care how the woman looked at her as long as she didn't have to deal with Andrea insulting her husband, Merle was a whole different story though, he was a trying person as it was so he was bound to deserve some of the anger people had for him.

Staring over at her daughter Natalie saw that Marlie was trying her hardest to stay awake like the bigger kids were but Marlie was only six compared to Carl, Eliza and Sophia's twelve years of age and Louis who was eleven. As much as Marlie didn't like to admit it she still needed to take naps once in a while.

Natalie nudged Daryl who was staring intently into the fire; he looked over at her with a curious expression. "Marlie." She whispered, nodding towards their daughter.

Daryl couldn't help but let a small smile escape when he saw Marlie's eyes blinking repeatedly in the chair she was sitting in, she was trying so hard to stay awake but she was failing terribly at it. She was even bobbing her head ever so often and startling herself awake – it was definitely time for her to go to bed.

Standing up Natalie grabbed her, Daryl's and Marlie's plates and silver ware that they had used to eat with. "I think we're going to get the little demon to bed." Natalie said gesturing to her daughter. "Is there any place that you would like these?" she asked holding the plates.

"You don't need to do anything," Dale told her. "It's your first night being reunited with your family. We can take care of it." He told her. "Just leave it on one of the chairs."

Hearing that Natalie smiled at him but shook her head, "It's fine Dale really, it's not too much work. Where would you like them?" she asked.

"I'll take care of them," Carol said to her softly, coming up and grabbing the sets of plates and silverware. "Go and be with your husband and daughter." She urged with a small smile.

Natalie smiled at her thankfully, "Okay Carol. Thank you." She said and turned towards where Marlie was but saw instead that Daryl had picked her tired form up while Natalie had been questioning where to put the dishes. "Night." She waved to the group who said good nights to her.

With that said the family of three made their way towards the Dixon campsite and to Daryl's tent which was decent sized, it wasn't humongous but it wasn't made for only one person. It could easily fit four people in it, maybe five at the most. In one corner a cot was set up and already had a sleeping bag set up to be used.

"C'mon girlie," Daryl said as they stepped inside of the tent and set Marlie down on the cot. "Let's get you changed and ready for bed." He said to her as he tugged her shoes and socks off.

Marlie yawned widely and rubbed at her eyes, "I don't wanna go to bed. I wanna stay up late with the other kids." She said quietly which made both Natalie and Daryl give a quiet laugh.

"But mama and dad want to go to bed," Natalie said to her daughter, as she dug through her daughters duffel bag and pulled out some pj's for her daughter.

The end result was a pair of pink pj pants and a mismatched top that had Sleeping Beauty, Anastasia, Ariel and one other princess that Natalie couldn't remember the name to. Handing the Pj's to Daryl who expertly changed their daughter into them Natalie smiled to herself, he may not look like it but Daryl was a very attentive and loving father who was definitely wrapped around his daughters finger. Marlie could ask for the world and Daryl would do everything that he could to give it to her.

Daryl finished changing Marlie and opened up the sleeping bag and gently set her inside of it before pulling the covers back over her and running his hands through her curly blonde/brown hair. "It's time to sleep Marlie, your mama and I are goin' to sleep too." He told her as he sat down beside her cot.

"Will you be here when I wake up tomorrow?" Marlie asked sleepily as she tried to blink the sleep away. "I'm not gonna wake up and you won't be here right?" she asked.

The moment Marlie said that Daryl's heart cracked just a bit, the fact that they were separated for so long really did a number on his daughter and he would be damned if he didn't do something to make it right.

Leaning down to kiss Marlie's cheek Daryl looked down into his daughter's eyes, "Ain't nothing gonna take me 'way from you and your mama. Ya hear me Mar? Can't get rid of your old dad so easily." He said to her. "I'm a survivor and I'll always be here for ya." He told her seriously.

"I love you daddy," Marlie said and then looked at her mom. "Love you mama." She said with a smile.

Natalie blinked away the happy tears that were in her eyes, "Love you too Marlie." She said as she crouched down by the cot and gently hugged her daughter. "I'll see you in the morning okay." She told her.

All Marlie did was nod, "Mhmm." She said.

"Hey," Daryl said gaining Marlie's attention one more time. "I have something for ya." He said as he dug into his bag and pulled out a worn and old looking stuffed otter – a present for Marlie from one of Natalie's friends.

Within moments Marlie grinned and grabbed the otter out of her dad's hands and hugged it to herself, "Mr. Puddles." She said and laid back onto the cot and snuggled with him. "You didn't forget him."

"Couldn't leave him back home without someone to watch over him," Daryl told her softly. "Now close your eyes and go to sleep." He ordered.

Marlie nodded and obeyed her father's order; she shuffled farther into the rather large sleeping bag, pulled her stuffed otter close as she could to her body and closed her eyes. Within only a few moments Marlie had fallen asleep, the little girl was more tired than she first realized but it was to be expected with the exciting last few days she and her mom have had.

~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~~_~~_~_ TWD ~_~_~_~~_~_

A/N: hope you all liked this chapter, i know it was more of a filler chapter but eh, whatever. Please review my dearies. Love ya.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Not mine in any fashion or way, though if they wanna plop a Daryl Dixon into my apartment for me i definitely wouldn't complain.

A/N: Okay so i had a bit of writers block for a while and had this basically kinda written out a while but had to smooth it out and make it flow so to say. I hopefulyl finalyl got it right. Tell me you like it please.

A/N2: Okay so i got into a new show, i don't know if any of you guys really care or read these but i am gonna grace you guys with my thoughts. Defiance. Dude...holy...awesomeness. I know there has only been like two episodes but i am defintiely hooked.

Chapter eight

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Daryl & Natalie ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"God Daryl I love you so much," Natalie said quietly so to not wake Marlie up on their first night of being able to get a good night's rest. "I've missed you so much Daryl, so fucking much." She said to her husband as she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and just breathed in his scent; it was woodsy and all man, just as she remembered. "It's been hell without you…..just hell."

In response to that Daryl pulled Natalie in closer to his body and wrapped his arms around her waist and gently laid his head against hers, "I know." He said to her softly and ran his hands through her messy, curly blonde hair. "I love you so damn fuckin' much Nat. I thought ya were dead, Marlie and ya both and I just. I could barely function, and the only reason I'm still here is 'cause of Merle and the thought ya wouldn't want me to do somethin' stupid." He said to her with a despondent tone of voice.

There were so many times that Daryl had been close to giving up and saying screw it and offing himself but each time he thought about Natalie and Marlie and realized that they wouldn't want him to do that, and he definitely knew Natalie would kick his ass in the afterlife. Thankfully he never went through with the plans, because otherwise he wouldn't have had the chance to reunite with his wife and daughter.

"I didn't know what to do Daryl," Natalie said quietly as she gripped onto his sleeveless shirt. "After that phone call and after communication went out I wasn't sure what to do. I just knew I had to get the hell out of there with Marlie and get back to Georgia." She stated to him. "You were here and I knew I had to come back to you. But I wasn't sure how I was going to find you, if I was going to find you but I tried to not think about that. I tried to delude myself into thinking that there was no possibility of me not finding you."

Daryl pulled back a bit and looked Natalie in the eyes, "But ya did find me, yeah?" he asked as he reached a hand up and gently caressed her cheek where there was a fading dark bruise. "You're here with me now; you, Marlie and me." He said to her.

At that Natalie took a deep, shaky breath and played with the hair at the back of Daryl's neck, "But I almost didn't come." She told him honestly. "I didn't trust T-Dogg, Jim or Glenn. All I saw was three armed men who are asking me back to a camp that supposedly has women and children." She said to him with a sigh. "If I wouldn't have finally agreed to come with them I wouldn't have found you Daryl. I would still be out there looking for you and wondering if we would ever be reunited and I would be fighting to survive and keep our daughter fed. I don't know how long we would have lasted." She admitted softly.

"Ya came though," Daryl said to her. "Ya are here and safe and sound. You are a strong person Nat, you're strong willed, almost as stubborn as me and will do anythin' to survive if Marlie is involved. Ya would have survived and eventually found me even if ya wouldn't have ran into the chinaman and the others." He told her.

Natalie just smiled at that and gently pulled Daryl in closer to her and gave him a soft kiss, one that showed Daryl how much she missed him and needed him, and not just physically but emotionally as well. Just as Daryl said Natalie may be a strong person but even she had her breaking point and could only do so much and take so much alone before she would start to feel hopeless. There on the highway after the attack with the second group of men, Natalie had started to feel hopeless and wanted to give up so badly but knew that she needed to think of Marlie – she needed to survive for her daughter if nothing else.

"Lemme take a look at ya girlie," Daryl said once they broke apart and pulled away from her so he could get a good look at her.

When Daryl said that to her Natalie sighed but nodded and took a few steps back so that he could see her from head to toe, she knew she definitely didn't look like she once did a month ago but hopefully Daryl wouldn't care. Natalie knew she was being stupid, thinking that Daryl would care about how she looked – it was the damn zombie apocalypse not a fashion show.

Before everything went to shit Daryl remembered Natalie as being slightly tanned from the years of living in Georgia, and him and Merle dragging her out into the wilderness with them so that she could learn how to hunt and how real camping was done. Now though, Natalie was a golden/brown color from all of her time being spent outside traveling and camping all of the way from Arizona to Georgia. Natalie's hair was still just as long, blonde and curly as he remembered it, it may have been a b it on the dirty and grimy side but whose hair wasn't like that nowadays. It's kind of hard to come by running water. He looked into Natalie's dark eyes and noticed that they had heavy bags underneath them from the lack of sleep she's been getting since she started to travel; one thing Daryl was definitely going to make sure happened was her getting some well-deserved uninterrupted rest. Natalie definitely deserved it after the weeks she's had.

"I look like complete shit don't I?" Natalie asked with a playful smirk on her face and looked at Daryl as he finished scanning her worn and tired body.

The moment Natalie said that Daryl gave a sharp scoff, "Babe if anything, ya are one of the cleanest and best lookin' one 'round this whole camp." He told her seriously and took a few steps closer to her. "Ya will always be my sexy, beautiful and hot….really hot wife Natalie." He said in a deep and seductive tone of voice. "Ya could be covered in Walker blood and guts and still be the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen."

Natalie grinned and shook her head at him, "Geeze Daryl, you're such a charmer with those words of yours." She told him with a small laugh. "I mean really, how can I argue with such a romantic statement like that?" she asked jokingly.

Daryl grinned at her wolfishly when she said that to him, he then grabbed Natalie around the waist and turned her around, pulling her back flush up against his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin against the nape of Natalie's neck. Taking in a deep breath Daryl sighed contently; he missed being able to smell Natalie and her spicy, earthy and uniquely her scent. Whenever Natalie used to wear his shirts to bed he would wait a day or two before throwing them into the laundry, he would instead wear them for a while just to have her scent near him. Daryl missed more than just Natalie's scent; he missed holding her, touching her, hugging her, talking to her, kissing her and being able to just look at her.

"So ya gonna tell me what happened to ya and Marlie?" Daryl asked after a few minutes of the two of them enjoying each other's presence and the comfortable silence.

The bruise on Natalie's face hinted enough to Daryl that Natalie had ran into trouble and every time he saw the bruise he wanted to go hunt down the fuckers who dared to touch his wife, hell the first time he saw the bruise he almost he narrowed his eyes and almost went off into the woods to cause some damage to the local trees.

"No." Natalie stated simply which made Daryl grip her around the waist a bit tighter, nothing painful but enough pressure so she knew that he was not happy with that answer. "Not right now Daryl, I can't do it tonight." She begged. "I need to not think about what happened to me, what almost happened to me and I need you to be here with me right now." She said as she slowly raised her hands and intertwined her's and Daryl's hands. "I need you Daryl, I need you to be my husband for me and be here for me. I need you to understand that for right now. I need to know that you are really here Daryl. I need to know that I'm not losing my mind and imagining things." She told him desperately and tried to breathe in a ragged breath.

The moment Daryl heard the tell-tale signs of Natalie beginning to cry he quickly pulled away from her, turned her around in his arms to face him and tried to look into her dark eyes but Natalie refused to look at him and turned her face to the side. Natalie didn't want Daryl to see how broken she really has been feeling, broken and unsure of anything anymore.

"Hey, look at me." Daryl said softly and tried to get Natalie to look him in the eyes but she continued on avoiding his gaze. "Natalie look at me. I'm your husband, I ain't afraid of a few tears of yours. Ya know I ain't 'bout to think any less of ya for cryin' ya silly Yankee." He told her playfully as he took a hold of her chin firmly but painlessly and tilted her head up towards him so he could look into her dark eyes.

Natalie smiled and gently touched Daryl's face with her palm and ran her hands over the stubble he had going on, though she did love a man with facial hair. "Hi." She said quietly.

"Hey," Daryl said in return as he reached up towards his own face and laid his hand over where Natalie's was. "Wanna tell me what's going on up here?" he asked curiously as he pulled his hand away and gently tapped Natalie's temple.

Natalie shrugged at him, "What if this is all some weird and twisted dream, what if you really aren't here and me and Marlie are back on that highway alone. I don't want to wake up tomorrow and find out that none of this is real." She told him seriously. "I can't let this be a dream, I can't. I don't want to wake up tomorrow and come to realize that you, Merle and everyone else that I've met so far are really only figments of my imagination." She said to him brokenly.

There was no doubt that Natalie was a strong and fierce woman, it was one of the many things that had first attracted Daryl to her. Well that and the fact that when she first met Merle she basically verbally handed his ass to him with no problems. Even with all the strength in the world Natalie couldn't take everything, not by herself she couldn't.

"Ya ain't dreamin' Nat and ya know it," Daryl said to her with conviction as he cupped Natalie's cheeks and ran his thumbs over them gently, making sure to not put too much pressure on the side that was bruised. "If ya were imaginin' everythin' why in the hell would ya have been dreamin' 'bout Merle of all people?" he questioned which made her laugh a bit. "I mean shit woman, if ya were gonna be dreamin' 'bout anythin' it could have at least been 'bout our time back home and the use that we put that kitchen counter to." He said with a shit eating grin on his face.

Natalie shook her head at Daryl but grinned nonetheless, "Your insatiable you mean ol' redneck." She told him.

"Ya know ya like it," Daryl said with a waggle of his eyebrows. "Side's ain't like ya aren't the same way." He told her with a pointed look to which Natalie gave him a guilty look. "I ain't goin' anywhere Nat, nothin' in this world can sep'rate me, you and Marlie. Ain't gonna happen." he told her as he looked into her eyes seriously. "You got me?" he asked her. "Not even your silly ass thinkin' that this is all a dream."

"I know," Natalie said to him with a sigh and looked into his blue eyes. "I was just-"

Daryl cut her off, "Ya just have been through a lot of shit over the last few weeks," he answered for her. "I get that and I ain't plannin' to push ya for it tonight but come tomorrow we are gonna talk. No exceptions." He told her in a dead serious tone, leaving no room for arguments.

At that Natalie looked at her husband pleadingly, "Daryl please." She begged softly.

"No," Daryl demanded to her fiercely and then crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I deserve to fuckin' know Natalie." He said quietly and quickly glanced over at where Marlie was sleeping and sprawled out across the cot with the stuffed otter still clutched tightly to her chest. "Ya are my wife and I don't care if I was there or not, I am gonna find out what happened. I deserve to know." He said whispering the last sentence.

For a moment Natalie tried to argue but she saw the expression on Daryl's face and shut her mouth, she knew he was right but she just didn't want to tell him about what happened. One because of the memories she had from those bad experiences and what almost happened to her and secondly, she didn't want Daryl to get angry. Not that there was really getting around that seeing as she was attacked a few time but that doesn't meant that she can't try.

"I'm sorry," Natalie whispered as she sighed and stepped closer to Daryl and wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his upper chest. "It's just that I don't want you to get angry and-"

Daryl gave a snort when she said that, "Ya and I both know that I'm gonna get angry one way or 'nother. I ain't got the longest fuse when it comes to my temper." He said to her.

"Ain't that the truth," Natalie said with a half-smile, she may be from Minnesota originally but she does say some southern things such as ain't and ya and sometimes she even said ya'all.

Instead of replying to her Daryl just grinned and pushed a stray curl of Natalie's behind her ear, pulled her even closer to him than before and leaned down and kissed Natalie passionately. Without much urging Natalie grabbed the back of Daryl's neck and deepened the kiss, meanwhile her free hand grabbed onto one of his arms that were wrapped around her waist securely.

Reluctantly pulling away Daryl looked down at Natalie, "I love you.' He said to her once again.

"I love you too Daryl." Natalie said as she kept her arms wrapped around Daryl's neck, if she could she would never let him go again.

Daryl gave her a smile before he took a good look at her and saw that Natalie was tired and exhausted and definitely needed to get to sleep soon, "C'mon let's get to bed, ya are startin' to look dead on your feet and I ain't about to let ya kneel over from exhaustion." He said to her. "I ain't gonna pick your ass up and change ya when your pass out still in dirty clothes."

Shaking her head Natalie grinned at him, "So charming aren't ya." Natalie said to him and looked down at the bed of sleeping bags. "I would kill," she paused for a moment to think over her words. "Well okay, I wouldn't kill but I would definitely maim to have a nice bed to sleep in for a week straight….maybe even two weeks." She stated with a grin and then moved to take her unbuttoned yellow and black plaid shirt off but Daryl stopped her before she could continue. "What?" she asked looking at him curiously.

Slowly Daryl reached towards Natalie and very gently fingered the collar of her shirt before gently pushing it over her shoulders and down her tanned arms, "Let me," he said to her deeply and continued on pushing the shirt down her arms and into the corner of the tent.

While Daryl had been removing her shirt Natalie just stared at Daryl and watched him closely; the long weeks that the two had been separated from one and another was enough to make every touch, every caress, every kiss and brush of skin intensified times ten. Daryl could barely touch the nape of her neck with his finger tips and it would send shivers down her spine. The intensity of every touch and kiss was amazing to both Natalie and Daryl, it's been years since either of them have been away from each other for more than just a few days and the last time was when Natalie was pissed off at Daryl when they first started dating and refused to talk to him for nearly three weeks.

Gently Daryl leaned down and kissed Natalie right where her heart was and in response to that she inhaled deeply, the feeling of his lips and warm breath on her skin was something she missed more than she thought. "Daryl." She whispered to him heavily.

"Hmm?" Daryl asked her as he gently trailed kissed up from her heart and up to her neck and made sure to pay special attention to the nape of her neck – it was her weak spot.

Natalie quietly moaned when he reached her neck and closed her eyes for a moment to regain herself, "Don't…don't start something that we both know we can't finish." She said to him trying to control her breathing and the urge to jump Daryl's bones like a wanton woman.

Though Natalie wasn't against jumping Daryl's bones; hell they could do it in a tent, on the hard forest ground, up against a tree, in a lake or in the bed of Daryl's truck. She didn't care as long as she could be close to Daryl, and Daryl definitely wouldn't complain he liked sex just as much as Natalie does.

Grudgingly Daryl pulled away and leaned his forehead against Natalie's and looked into her eyes, "Okay." He said to her simply but started to trail his hands down her sides and grasped the edge of her tank top and slowly began to lift it up.

Giving a barely noticeable smile Natalie raised her arms and let Daryl pull her tank up and off her which then left her in a plain dark blue spaghetti strap shirt, smiling Natalie stepped closer to Daryl and gently ran her hand around his face. Tracing his face, Natalie touched the small faded scar that was above his left eyebrow, and then ran her fingers over the stubble and scruff that he had growing on his chin and the small amount that was above his lip. From what she could tell it needed a bit of a trim. Gently caressing down from his face Natalie trailed her hand down to his neck and chest, she grasped the black vest with the angel wings on the back and pushed it off of his shoulders and then started to work on unbuttoning the sleeveless shirt that he was wearing. Natalie made sure to go slow as she unbuttoned his shirt, and barely touched the skin that was revealed to her as the shirt opened just that much more with every button. Finally the shirt was completely undone and without further ado Natalie pushed the shirt off of his shoulders and tossed it over towards where their packs were laying at.

Reaching towards his chest Natalie carefully traced a few of the old scars that were on Daryl's upper chest and looked up into his face to see what his reaction would be, some days Daryl didn't mind her touching the scars but then on other days he didn't want her to look at them let alone even touch them. Natalie remembers when her and Daryl were first getting intimate and she saw the scars for the first time and traced them that Daryl freaked out and had a small break down, he yelled and screamed at her and said things that he didn't mean but was thinking that she thought about him subconsciously but she took it all like a pro. She just looked him in the eye and carefully approached him before she wrapped her arms around him and told him she didn't care about the scars, that they were apart of him and made him the person he was but they would never make him any less amazing or handsome. When Natalie had told him that Daryl looked at her shocked, unsure how he was supposed to react or precede – so many times females had rejected him after getting sex because of him being covered in scars.

Now Natalie gently kissed a scar that was near his heart, "You're always beautiful to me Daryl, and I mean that in the manliest way possible." She said to him with a smirk on her face.

In response to that Daryl gave a soft laugh and pulled her closer to his person and ran his hands up and down her back, it was more to sooth Daryl's mind than for Natalie. It helped calm Daryl and keep a lot of the bad memories away that he locked up tight within his mind – not all memories are good ones.

"You are too good for me," Daryl whispered to her as he pressed Natalie's body closer to his and groaned when Natalie rolled her hips into his a bit. "I thought we weren't going to do anything." He stated quietly.

Natalie grinned up at him, "We aren't." she said as she took a small step back, she was testing herself a bit too much along with Daryl – she needed to be with Daryl completely as soon as possible.

Shaking his head Daryl grasped Natalie's hips, "You little vixen." He growled playfully.

"I'm a Dixon Vixen," Natalie joked. "Get it right." She told him.

Giving her a soft half smile at that Daryl ran his fingers along the waist band of Natalie's jeans and then reached under her shirt and slowly inched his hands up her back towards her bra and unhooked it with practiced hands. He then gently slid the straps down and off of Natalie's arms and then pulled it out from under her shirt and tossed it aside.

"You are too good for me," he said to her and kept his hands under her shirt as he dragged them across to the front of her body but froze suddenly when he felt gauze on her abs. "Natalie?" he questioned with a whisper. "Are you inured?"

Natalie shook her head at him, "It's fine, I took care of it." She told him with a sincere look on her face.

Daryl gave her a hard look, "Nat-"

"It's fine Daryl," she told him seriously. "I'm not bleeding out or anything, we can worry about it tomorrow. Okay?" she asked him as she cupped the side of his face and kissed his cheek gently. "Please?" she asked hopefully.

He sighed but nodded, "Fine." Daryl said as he moved his hands back down and grabbed onto her belt loops.

Nodding at him Natalie ran her hands up and down Daryl's chest, loving the feeling of the muscles that were underneath his skin and were jumping at every contact her hands had with him. Daryl may not be overly muscled or have six pack abs like other guys out there but he was well defined and fit with amazingly strong arms. Trailing her hands down from his upper chest, to his stomach and barely touching the trail of hair he had bellow his belly button Natalie touched the rim of his pants. Stopping momentarily Natalie looked up into Daryl's eyes before she grabbed at his belt and unbuckled that and then tugged the button of his pants open and pushed them down his legs.

Stepping out of his pants and kicking them away Daryl reached for Natalie's thick weapons belt and deftly undid it and tossed it over to the weapons pile that was near their bags and away from where Marlie was sleeping, bending down Daryl undid the long black coconut knife that was strapped to her thigh and tossed that over into the pile as well before he was able to undo her pants and slowly slid them down her legs. Daryl grinned to himself when he heard Natalie groan and start to breathe a bit heavier, he may not be expecting to get any sex from this but that didn't mean he wasn't going to enjoy teasing her and just the fact that the two of them were undressing one and another.

Standing back up Daryl grasped Natalie around the waist and lifted her up from the crumpled jeans she had been wearing and kicked them in a random corner of the tent before setting her back down onto her feet; as much as Daryl enjoyed seeing Natalie in only her underwear and shirt he knew that she needed to get some on before he got any ideas. He was a man after all and Natalie was his beautiful wife that he hasn't seen in almost a month, not even he can control himself that well all of the time. Walking over to Natalie's duffel bag he searched through it a moment before he found a pair of grey cloth shorts that had pockets in them, crouching back down he gently lifted each of Natalie's legs and helped her into them and then slowly and torturously pulled them up her legs to her waist.

"Bed," Natalie said barely above a whisper, what Daryl was doing was definitely affecting her if the heavy tone of voice she had taken on was any indication.

Trying to suppress a grin Daryl looked down at Natalie and wrapped his arms around her form, "Bed." He agreed as he buried his hand into her hair and held her there for a few moments.

Finally letting Natalie go Daryl went over to where there were two layers of sleeping bags zipped together – a makeshift bed padding, which almost made a bigger sleeping bag that would easily two people and then lifted the top layer of them so that he and Natalie could get underneath the covers.

For a few minutes both Natalie and Daryl said nothing, the two of them just laid there on their makeshift bed. Natalie was facing towards where Marlie was sleeping and Daryl had her pulled up against his chest with an arm thrown around her waist and intertwining their fingers.

"I missed this," Daryl said softly as he lifted Natalie's left hand and traced his name that was tattooed onto her ring finger – they got tattoos instead of wedding bands when they got married. "This too," he said as he touched a bit of her right arm that was showing, she had a half sleeve of a gothic looking Alice in wonderland scene. "And this," he said as he slowly slid his hand underneath her shirt and ran it up and down her ribs where there was a nice sized dream catcher tattoo. "And all of your other ones." He said smiling as he pressed his lips to the back of her neck where there was a turquoise colored phoenix tattoo.

Natalie smiled to herself before she clasped Daryl's hand in hers and touched the star tattoo that was on it near his thumb, it was small and barely noticeable. "I missed this one," she said and brought his hand up to her and kissed it gently before laying it back down. "I missed this," she said as she touched her name that was tattooed on his ring finger. "This one as well," she said as she touched a spot on the underside of his upper arm where there was a tattoo of a demon of some kind. "I missed this one too." She told him as she reached towards his back and tapped it – he had a somewhat large tattoo of a demon/angel hybrid. "But this," she said as she turned in his arms and gently cupped his face. "I missed this most of all."

"I missed this," Daryl said as he pulled her in closer to his body.

Blinking her eyes quickly a few times, Natalie willed away the tears that were threatening to fall. "I love you." She said to him.

Daryl closed his eyes and laid back onto the pillows, "I love you too." He said and pulled Natalie up and closer to him and kissed the top of her head. "Sleep." He told her quietly.

Smiling Natalie laid her head against Daryl's chest and wrapped one arm around his neck and the other was flung across his body and closed her eyes, hopefully tonight would be the night that she will be able to get some rest and wake up well rested.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Natalie & Daryl: 4:30 am ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Daryl was woken up early in the morning by the sound of someone very close by whimpering and making small cries, blinking his yes a few times Daryl looked around for the noise and thought that it could have been Marlie but saw that she was still sound asleep. Sitting up a but Daryl looked down at Natalie who was laying on her side and had her eyes closed tightly with a pained expression on her face, it was then that Daryl realized that it was Natalie who was having a nightmare.

Back at their house that was in the woods Natalie had a dream catcher that she had nailed above their bed and said that ever since she started to use them that she had never gotten a nightmare; running his hands through his hair Daryl wished that they had a dream catcher right now to try and test out that theory and see how much truth there was to it.

"Mama's been getting' bad dreams for a while now," Marlie said suddenly which made Daryl turn in surprise, he's always on the listen for walkers or anything of the sort yet his six year old daughter was able to startle him the hunter. The irony.

Daryl looked down at Natalie before over at his daughter who was sitting up in her cot with the otter in her lap, "How long has she been havin' them?" he asked.

Marlie shrugged at that, "Don't know. Since we left our first group of people," she answered. "We was travelin' with them after everythin' happened. We were still in 'Zona but those people weren't very nice. They yelled at me a lot and ordered me and mama around but mama didn't like that." She said and pulled her legs up to her chest. "They were really, really, really bad people Daddy. Mama got us out though."

Hearing that the first group his wife and daughter were with had tried to order them around and tell them what to do pissed Daryl off, the fact that they scared Marlie pissed him off and if he could he would trek all the way to Arizona just to take care of them but there were more important things to do now.

"Did they ever hurt ya or ya mama?" Daryl asked tightly, he was trying to stay as calm as he could but he wasn't sure if he was doing that good of a job at it.

Looking down Marlie answered her dad, "They grabbed me once really tightly and left a bruise on my arm but mama went and yelled at the men for that and we left there before night." She told him. "I don't know if they hurt mama, she never said if they did or didn't." she answered. "I'm sorry daddy."

Daryl looked over at his daughter and saw a devastated look on her face, he looked at her softly, or as softly as a Dixon ca. "It ain't your fault that there are bad people out there. Ya can't control how other's be when the world ends. Ya my lil' demon child, and no matter how much like ya mama and me ya are like not even ya can change people's minds and actions." He said resolutely.

Nodding Marlie looked over at her mama and dad, "Can…can I sleep with you two?" she asked quietly, yet hopeful and gave her dad a puppy dog face.

"Yeah, c'mon." he said to her as he lifted the covers of the blankets.

Without hesitation Marlie got out of her own sleeping bag and ran over to her mom and dad and snuggled up under the covers and pressed herself against her mom, otter still in hand. "Thank you daddy. I love you." She said to him sleepily as she pressed herself to her mom's side.

"Love ya too Mar," Daryl answered as he laid the covers back down. "Ya ain't gonna be doin' this every night ya know." He told her sternly. "Ya ain't no baby no more."

Marlie nodded, "I know. I'm ya little demon." She said to him with a giggled.

Daryl just shook his head at that, "Go to sleep." He said and laid his head back down on the pillow and pulled himself closer to where Natalie and Marlie were sleeping.

The world might not be perfect anymore and there may be Walkers trying to take a bite out of them every chance they get but at least Daryl has his family, at least he is lucky enough to have his family with him now. Not everyone was that luck.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~ TWD

Quote of the Day: Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.

Shunryu Suzuki


	9. Chapter 9

Dislcaimer: I do not in any way have anything to do or own thet Walking Dead. Sad face.

A/N: Okay i am so sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out, i've jsut been trying ot make it perfect and perfect didn't come to me and then i had writers block again. damn writers block. And on monday 4/29 it was my birthday so there was that. I'm 24 now. Getting old i spose to some people. I also am getting ready for a trip so that doesn't help any. But not to worry the newest chapter is here.

A/N2: please review i love you all.

Chapter nine

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Marlie ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Ya know Mr. Puddles I love you," Marlie whispered quietly to her stuffed otter as she was laying down beside her sleeping parents on their bed. "I missed you whole bunches and bunches. Like a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot. I missed you almost as much as daddy." She said to her otter and pet his soft downy fur and rubbed her cheek against him – the otter had definitely seen better days, it was missing an eye, there were a few rips and tears along it's body and needed a good sewing job soon in order to keep it together.

Marlie rolled over a bit and looked at her parent's sleeping faces and gave a small smile, she was so happy that they were all together again and a family. Now her mom wouldn't look so sad all of the time when she thought Marlie wasn't looking, since they were back with her daddy her daddy would make sure her mom was happy again. Her daddy always knew how to make her mom happy when she was sad.

Looking away from her parents Marlie hugged her otter tightly, "You know why I love ya Mr. Puddles?" Marlie asked her otter, though she wasn't expecting him to answer he was a stuffed animal after all. "You're my mama's favorite animal ever, she even likes you more than horses and she tolds me she missed riding horses." She told the otter. "I always wanted to ride a horse." She said off hand and gave a small pout at that thought.

"I don't know what daddy's favorite animal is, maybe he likes otters too, he broughts you back to me," Marlie said to herself. "Maybe his crossbow is his favorite animal." She said and giggled at the thought of her dad's beloved weapon being his favorite animal. "I don't think it counts. A crossbow isn't an animal." She stated with a childlike grin on her face. "I love you the most of all of my stuffed animals because you've always been there for me Mr. Puddles." She said to him as if he was listening to her and could respond at any moment. "When Mary-Beth Perkins was bein' mean to me and makin' fun of me for what my mama and daddy did you were there for me." She said and narrowed her eyes in a very Daryl like fashion at the mention of her kindergarten tormentor. "Me and mama were attacked while we was travelin' here to find daddy and I didn't have you there to pr'tect me and mama but mama's strong and she fought the mean men off and got us away from 'em."

For a few moments Marlie stopped her talking and just looked down at her otter lovingly, the otter has been with her ever since she could remember and is one of her fondest stuffed animals. She was very close to being distraught when she found out that she and her mom had forgotten it back in Georgia when they started their trip to Arizona.

Taking a deep breath Marlie continued on with her story to her otter, "My mama is so cool Mr. Puddles, she fought all the bad people and monsters off while we were trying to get here and looked like a warrior princess, like one of the ones out of her stories that she tells me all of the time." She said with a wide grin. "Like Xena!" she said with an excited whisper; she was proud of herself for being able to make the connection between the mythical warrior woman and her mother – who for the most part has been acting like a warrior fighting off all of the walker/biters that the two have come into contact with.

"My mama and daddy will awalys, always keep me safe because I love them and they love me. My mama has been keepin' me safe since 'Zona, she kept all the bad men away from me and kept them from hurtin' me. The peoples we traveled with when we was still in 'Zona creeped me out a lot," she said emphasizing the a lot part of the comment. "When mama was keepin' me safe from those bad people my daddy was keeping you safe for me until we all found each others again and were a family." She said in a no nonsense tone of voice and clutched the brown colored otter closer to herself and grinned into his fur.

For a while after that Marlie just laid down and played with Mr. Puddles and tried to be quiet as possible so that her parents could sleep in a bit, especially her mommy who hasn't gotten much sleep in a while. So to keep herself entertained Marlie made her otter dance, be the king of a court in some far away fantasy land, act like a monster killing warrior – how she imagined her dad looked and acted when he was killing of the dead monsters that were everywhere now. Bust mostly Marlie just held Mr. Puddle's to herself, he reminded her of home and safety. Something that has been lacking in the world lately.

"Mar?" the sleepy and gruff sounding voice of her father asked as he peered over her mom's shoulder and down at Marlie's awake and alert self. "Whatcha doin' up?" he questioned.

Marlie looked up at her dad and grinned happily, "Morning daddy!" she whisper yelled at him.

Daryl squinted his eyes and looked down at his daughter, "Ya shouldn't be up yet Marlie, should still be sleepin' like your mama and I are." He said to her and gave her a curious look, he figured that Marlie would have still been asleep especially after everything that she has been through in the last few weeks but apparently he was wrong. "Don't even think the sun has barely been up all that long yet." He stated.

In response to that Marlie shrugged her shoulders and looked at her dad, who was looking at her intently waiting for an answer. "I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep so I've been catchin' Mr. Puddles up on all the things that's been gin' on and what me and mama have done since we all were sep…speser…sep…ara….ted." she sounded out and looked up at her dad with a proud smile on her face – the world may have gone to hell but Natalie would be damned if she was going to let her daughter become uneducated. "I didn't wanna wake you and mama up. Mama hasn't slept barely at all, I can tell. She's always been stayin' awake when she said she'd sleep and instead watches over me. I told her not to but she didn't listen to me."

"Your mama's a stubborn one isn't she?" Daryl asked with a shake of his head, that definitely sounded like something that Natalie would do, sacrificing some sleep in order to make sure that the surrounding area and their daughter was safe – he didn't like the fact that she did that but he understood the practicality of it. "She just wanted to keep ya safe Marlie, she was worried about you." He said as he looked away from his daughter's concerned face and to his sleeping wife.

Marlie looked from her dad's face to her mom who looked really peaceful and happy, for the first time since the monsters started attacking people. "Mama doesn't have to be as worried about me anymore right? She gets to sleep as much as she wants now and not have to stay up reaaaaallllly late and not sleep to make sure we're safe. Right?"

Looking away from Natalie's sleeping face Daryl looked at his daughter with a soft smile, "I'll do all I can to make sure that happens." He said and gently caressed Marlie's cheek – the girl was definitely going to need a bath or something soon, he's surprised Natalie let the girl get so dirty but then again it's hard to find water when you are traveling across a few state lines.

"Good," Marlie said with a sharp nod.

Now that Marlie and Natalie were with him and the rest of the Quarry group Daryl hoped that the two of them would be able to rest a bit easier and relax as much as one can; it was safer in the camp and with as many people as they had in the camp it would easier for everyone to look out for one and another. As much as Daryl may hate being around so many people day in and day out and how uncomfortable he felt at times around them he was realistic, he knew that there was safety in numbers and knew in order to keep himself, Natalie and Marlie alive they needed to stay with the group. He was willing to sacrifice a bit of comfort to keep them safe.

"We're gonna be okay now right?" Marlie asked quietly as she looked between her mom and dad; telling Mr. Puddles about everything that happened to herself and her mom made her a bit worried and scared, even more so after she talked with her dad. "No one's gonna hurt us?"

Daryl took a deep breath and then let it out slowly, "Marlie I ain't gonna lie to you and say that nothin' is ever gonna hurt you, your mama or any of us again because that would be a lie and I ain't ever gonna lie to you about something important." He said to her honestly.

Some people didn't like the fact that both Natalie and Daryl talked to their daughter about serious subjects and told her things in a straightforward way and refused to lie to her even if those things may hurt; people thought that a six year old should be lied to about certain things because of their young mind and how they process things but neither Daryl nor Natalie agreed with that. The two agreed raising their daughter with honesty and so far it's done them well.

"Marlie?" Daryl questioned when he noticed his daughter had looked away from him. "I need ya to look at me," he said and reluctantly Marlie looked up at him and he gave her a sad smile when he saw the tears that were barely forming in her eyes. "Right now the world is a bad place and no one knows when it's gonna get better. No place is gonna ever be completely safe but I will promise you something, okay." He said looking at her intensely.

Marlie wiped at her eyes and looked into her dad's eyes, "What's that?" she asked trying to sound tough and confident, just like her mommy but it was hard to be like that when anything could happen to her, her mommy, her daddy or uncle Merle and that thought scared her.

"I promise that I will do everythin' I can to keep ya mama and you safe," Daryl told her sincerely and wipped away a stray tear from her cheek. "I ain't ever gonna let anythin' happen to you or your mama, ya two are the most important people to me and I will fight for ya." He stated.

He would too, Daryl would fight and kill anyone that got in his way if it meant that his family would survive. He may not like killing another human being but if they threatened the safety of Marlie or Natalie he will kill that person – he will be damned if his wife and daughter don't survive.

"And uncle Merle too?" Marlie questioned with a broken voice, more than likely from her trying to repress her crying. "You'll keep uncle Merle safe too?" she asked.

Before Daryl could answer that the familiar laugh of Natalie erupted from between Daryl and Marlie, looking down at his wife, Daryl saw that Natalie had a small amused grin on her face and was looking at Marlie and Daryl.

"Sweets uncle Merle doesn't need anyone to watch out for him," Natalie said as she looked at her daughter who still had tear tracks running down her face. "He's hard as nails."

The moment Marlie realized her mom was awake she grinned happily and wiped at the remaining tears that were on her face and shuffled herself closer to her mom and gave her a gentle hug, she remembered that her mom still had a few cuts on her stomach from those mean guys a few days ago.

"Mommy!" she said excitedly, no longer bothering to keep her voice down since both of her parents were now awake. "Good morning." She said to her.

Natalie smiled at the sight of her daughter's smiling face, "Morning Marlie," she said and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Did you sleep okay?" she asked.

Marlie nodded, "Mhmm. I had Mr. Puddles. I slept the bestest." She said and then looked from her mom and then to her dad. "You wouldn't really not look out for Uncle Merle would you?" she asked, going back to the conversation they had been having before Natalie started laughing.

"I 'spose we'd look out for uncle Merle too," Daryl said with an amused smile on his face, a smile that he only used around people he trusted most. "But I don't think he need's protectin' all that much." He told his six year old daughter. "Ya know how your uncle Merle is."

That made Natalie nod in agreement, "Your uncle Merle is a pretty tough guy ya know," she said to her as she reached her hand out and smoothed her daughter's hair down, not that it really made much of a difference. "He's one of the toughest guys I know and has done a lot for me and your daddy." She stated and looked down at her daughter. "Do you wanna hear a cool story about your uncle Merle?" she asked.

Hearing that Daryl looked at his wife suspiciously, Natalie's version of cool story and his version can be two completely different things. And sometimes, the stories that Natalie tells about Merle end's up embarrassing Daryl once in a while and he would really rather not hear an embarrassing story about himself.

"Natalie don-" Daryl started to say but was interrupted by his daughter

"Yeah!" Marlie said excitedly, ignoring her dad's protest. "Tell me, tell me!" she begged, she loved hearing stories about her family from before she was born, and she thought they were cool.

Natalie grinned, "Well this one doesn't have your daddy in it but you're gonna have to deal with that," she told her daughter.

Marlie cocked her head to the side and looked at her parents curiously, "Why isn't dad in it?" she asked, ever since she was little her uncle Merle had told her how her parents had basically been attached at the hip since they met – barely ever left each other's sight.

At that Natalie shrugged, "Hmm, I don't quite remember but I think he was working late with the business your daddy and uncle Merle ran. Uncle Merle wasn't the best with the paper work stuff so your daddy most likely got stuck doin' it." She said offhand and tossed a mischievous smirk in Daryl's direction before turning back towards Marlie. "So I went out with some of my friends to a bar; your godmother Karsci was there, and my friend Klara and Casey. It wasn't one of the best bars to go to, and it saw all kinds of different people there but it was cheap and an easy place to get to for us girls to just have some fun." She started with her story.

"I miss Karsci." Marlie said suddenly with a sad look on her face.

"Me too," Natalie said with a small smile on her face. "We'll find her don't ya worry." She said to her and paused for a moment to try and not think about what may have or may not have happened to her close friend Karsci. "Okay then, anyways. We all were hanging out at the bar, and had been drinking for a while and dancing to really bad music – old bars don't have any good taste." She said with a disappointed shake of her head which made Daryl roll his eyes, of course she commented on the music taste of the bar while telling the story. "Casey, who you've never met before was eventually called back to her house by her boyfriend who never lets her have any fun." She said with a childish pout hoping to make Marlie laugh which she succeeded at.

"You're weird mama." Marlie said to her.

Natalie just smiled at that comment, "So then it was just me and Karsci, we were dancing and having fun. It was the first day that she had off in a long time, she had just finished school to be a nurse and got a real job so she ended up working a lot." She stated with a shake of her head. "A guy came up to us you see, he was old, like older than my oldest uncle and he started to hit on me and Karsci," she admitted which Karsci gasped at loudly. "I know, how could he." Natalie said with a shake of her head. "He tried ignoring him, insulting him – okay I insulted him. We even tried to lose him in the bar, but the bar wasn't all that big or packed so that wasn't all that good of an idea. He didn't like that we were ignoring him and he got really angry."

Marlie's eyes widened and looked at her mom curiously, and to tell the truth Daryl was listening intently as well. This was a story about Natalie that he has never heard before and he was wondering how this was going to end and how Merle ended up being in this story exactly.

"What happened next?" Marlie asked.

"The mean bad man hurt Karsci when she kneed him in a sensitive area," Natalie said with a giggle. "Not something that Karsci did very often, she is a strong woman and can scare a man just from yelling at him but she didn't like to resort to violence." She stated and got lost in thought momentarily. "He slapped her across the face and then I tried to check to see if Karsci was okay but he grabbed my arm tightly and let's just say I had a few choice words for him when he did that, I only let certain people touch me and that guy was not any of the kind of people who I would have let touch me." She stated with a firm shake of her head, her curls flying around her face. "When I started yelling someone came over who had been sitting at the back of the bar," she said and grinned. "And guess who it was." She said as she looked at her daughter with a knowing smile on her face.

Marlie looked at her mom with excitement, "Who?" she asked curiously.

As Natalie was telling Marlie the story of her uncle Merle which seemed to capture the small girl's attention, Daryl couldn't help but watch in amusement. Marlie was hanging onto every word that was being spoken and Natalie was telling it so animatedly that it was hard to not be interested in what was being told.

Natalie looked at Marlie with a secretive smile, "It was your uncle Merle," she said with a show of looking shocked. "He was there and I didn't even know it. The moment the guy started to try and hurt me Merle came right over like he owned the place and then BAM," she said loudly which made Marlie jump in surprise and Daryl grin a bit in response to her sound effects. "He knocked him straight on his ass, I thought I was going to have to try and talk to him to make sure your uncle didn't keep on beating him but he only hit him once and then got really close to his face and said if he dared to ever touch me again that he would have someone worse than Merle on his ass for doing that." She said to her.

"Who else would be mad?" Marlie asked curiously.

Natalie gave a look to Daryl, "Your daddy." She answered and gently leaned up towards Daryl and kissed him lightly on the corner of his mouth and pulled away before he could try and deepen it. "Merle then dragged me and Karsci out of there and surprisingly was nice to Karsci – you know how Merle can be with new people, or people in general I guess. And he took her home and then brought me back to my apartment and made sure I was doing okay before he headed back home. I called your daddy after that and asked him to come over, but I didn't tell him what happened. I didn't want him to worry." She said to Marlie with a grin on her face.

Marlie smiled once Natalie finished telling the story, hearing what her uncle Merle did made Marlie feel as if he was that much cooler. "He's like superman." She said excitedly.

"I don't know 'bout that Mar," Daryl said with a snort, the thought of someone referring to his brother as being superman was amusing – Merle whose been a druggie for years, and has done one too many stints in juvie, is an angry, violent asshole at times and racist – yeah the guy is definitely superman material. "Maybe the redneck version of superman." He stated.

"Merle the super hero," Natalie said with a shake of her head. "Now ain't that a thought, we need to think of a cool superhero name for him." She stated in amusement.

Hearing that Marlie grinned, "Yeah!" she said happily. "I'm gonna think of the best and coolest one ever! And I'll even draw him a cool picture." she said.

When Daryl heard that he silently groaned and then leaned forward towards Natalie's ear, "No need to encourage her, Merle's ego is big enough as it is and givin' him a superhero name is just gonna make it that much worse." He told her.

Natalie rolled her eyes, "I'll make sure to knock him down a peg or two then if he starts getting too out of hand." She told him.

Shaking his head Daryl pulled Natalie a bit closer to his body and placed his nose into the crook of her neck and closed his eyes for a moment; Daryl had no doubt that Natalie could take his brother down a few pegs in the ego department. She didn't take shit from no one and wasn't afraid to speak her mind when it was about something she believed in or something she didn't like. No matter the consequences. Merle may be an intimidating and scary ass mother fucker to most people but Natalie won't even bat an eye when he starts acting up – she's one of the most patient and calmest people he's ever met. At time's he can't believe she sticks around with some of the shit she's seen in the last ten years of knowing him and Merle, especially when Merle gets on the worse drugs and acts like a douche to everyone around him.

"Can we get up now? Please?" Marlie asked as she sat up in front of her mom and dad. "I'm soooo bored." She whined at them and even jutted her lip out for effect. "Can we go outside and see if any of the other kids are up please?" she begged hopefully.

Ever since T-Dogg had told Marlie about the other kids and when she was able to hang out and play with a few of them the previous night she's been aching to go back out to camp and play with them again, she liked Sophia the most so far because she listened to Marlie talk and didn't tell her that she was annoying like a couple of the kids from her old school used to.

At that Daryl looked at Marlie and then glanced out the netting of the tent where he saw that the sun was just barely up and could make out maybe two or three figures outside getting camp ready, "There ain't gonna be any kids up yet ya know." He said as he looked back at her. "Too early, most normal kids sleep in as late as they can." He told her with a joking smile on his face.

"Please?" Marlie begged once again and even placed her hands together in a prayer pose and gave her parents the puppy dog look.

Natalie laughed and pushed herself into a seated position, "Fine, fine we'll get up." She said glancing back at Daryl and giving him a look before looking back at her daughter who was grinning at her widely. "But," she said sternly. "You can't complain about being bored if there aren't any kids up. You little missy are the one who wanted to get up remember." She stated.

Marlie nodded at that, "Okay mama," she said to her and jumped p and off of the sleeping bags. "I'll get dressed and bring some things out with me so I have stuff to do and to see if Sophia wants to play with me. I hope she's up."

While Marlie was racing around the tent excitedly getting herself dressed and gathering a few things up to take outside of the tent with her, both Natalie and Daryl just stayed where they were and didn't even bother moving. They were just enjoying the moment, being near one and another and watching Marlie in her excitement. It was a nice family moment.

Ever so slowly Daryl inched his hand towards Natalie before he was finally caressing her backside with barely a touch of his hand, glancing behind her Natalie gave Daryl a raised brow look for the fact that he was touching her ass…..though she didn't mind all that much but would prefer it in a different kind of setting.

"Be good," Natalie whispered over her shoulder to Daryl and then went back to watching Marlie. "Hey Mar, bright colored flower prints don't go with brightly colored polka dot shirts." She said as she gave a small laugh at what her daughter was planning on putting on. "Maybe trade one or the other for something without prints on it." She suggested.

As Natalie was suggesting some different types of clothes for Marlie to wear, Daryl had slowly snuck his hand from her ass to the small of her back and was slowly stroking his hand up from the small of Natalie's back up to between her shoulder blades and smiled to himself when he noticed that each time he drew his hand up and down her back she took a sharp breath and shakily let it out. It was nice to know that a simple touch as that could affect Natalie so much, but given the weeks they've been apart it was a given – they were used to being around each other every day and being able to touch and have sex whenever they felt it and often multiple times within a single day.

"Mom! Dad!" Marlie said admonishingly when she was done getting dressed and getting some of her things together to take outside, her mom and dad were both still sitting on their bed in their pj's – they were supposed to be getting dressed too so they could go outside. "You're not dressed yet."

Natalie chuckled at that, "But it's so nice and warm in here, I don't want to go outside. There's people out there." She joked to her with a playful smile on her face.

When she said that Marlie gave her a flat and unamused look, "Mama!" she said and went and tugged gently on her mother's arm. "Let's go!"

"You are impatient," Natalie said as she stood up and then looked down at Daryl who was still laying down. "Come on ya mean redneck. Get up." Natalie stated with her arms crossed. "If I have to get up then you definitely do." She told him.

In response to that Daryl just grunted and stood up from where he had been laying down, standing above Natalie a bit Daryl looked down at her intensely for a few moments before he swooped down and cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. But before Natalie was able to respond back to him or even deepen the kiss Daryl pulled away from her with a shit eating grin on his face and then he turned around and headed over to his bag to search for some clothes to wear.

"You call that a kiss?" Natalie questioned as she cocked her hip out and rested her hands on her hips challengingly.

Daryl gave her a wolfish grin as he looked back at her and pulled on a pair of worn and slightly dirty jeans that had a hole in the left knee but they were the cleanest pair of pants he had at the moment – he really needed to clean some of his clothes before they started attracting the walkers to camp.

"Yeah," he said back to her as he pulled a pair of socks and then his boots on. "What of it." He said to her flirtatiously.

While Natalie and Daryl were bantering Marlie was looking between her parents with an impatient and slightly funny look on her face. Marlie definitely thought her parents were weird, like really weird, even weirder than she thought before. They acted like they were teenagers….at least that's what her uncle Merle said all of the time. And they pretended to fight without meaning it, she's seen and heard her parents fight before and it's definitely different than their fake fighting that usually ends up with them kissing. It's not very often that her parents fought for real, but when they did it was explosive. They always made up though and that was the important part.

Natalie looked at Daryl and snorted, "It was terrible, I know ya can kiss better than that." She told him pointedly. "That kiss that you just gave me was like a thirteen year old's first kiss." She said with a mock disappointed shake of her head.

"Once we get some time alone dearest wife, I'll show you how much I kiss like a thirteen year old," Daryl said giving her a sensual look as he pulled on a tank top and one of his sleeveless shirts that he seemed to have an endless supply of. "I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

At that Natalie gave a small, happy sigh, "Oh I'm sure I will." She said with a half-smile on her face. "I'll be counting on it."

"Can I go outside and wait?" Marlie asked interrupting the subtly passionate moment that was going on between her parents. "I'll stay by the tents." She said.

When she said that Daryl quickly ran his hands through his hair and tried to put it in some kind of order, "C'mon. I'll take ya outside and we can wait out there for ya mama to get dressed." He said to Marlie as he grabbed his hunting knife and shoved it onto his belt, grabbed his gun and then slung his crossbow over his shoulder. "Ya are just as impatient as ya mama at times."

Hearing that Natalie threw a half empty water bottle at his head, "Mean redneck." She joked.

"Crazy ass yankee." He teased right back and then looked down at Marlie. "Well what are ya waitin' for. We stay in here any longer and ya mama is gonna try and convince us to go back to sleep." He stated.

With a wide eyed look at her mom Marlie quickly grabbed her smaller back pack and high tailed it out of the tent before her mother could try and convince her to go back to sleep, she's already been up too long to be able to fall back asleep and she really didn't want to be stuck in the tent doing nothing but pretending to sleep.

Shaking her head at her daughter Natalie looked at her husband, "That was mean." She said and gently pushed him towards the opening of the tent.

"Worked though, didn't it?" Daryl asked rhetorically as he quickly pulled Natalie towards him and just gave her a hug. "Ya know we're talkin' today about all the shit that happened to you and Marlie right? Ya can't get out of that." He said to her sternly as he pulled away and looked into her eyes.

Natalie nodded at him, "I know." She said quietly. "We'll talk later today, just not right away. Yeah?" she asked him to which he nodded in agreement. "Good. Now go to our daughter before she starts pestering anyone who is awake and tries to go and hunt down the other kids and wake them up." She said to him.

With a nod Daryl ducked out of the tent and left Natalie alone to get dressed and ready for the day; quickly stretching her sore muscles Natalie went over to her duffel bag and searched through it for some clean clothes, or at least halfway decent looking clothes that weren't covered in blood or dirt.

After slipping her bra back on underneath her spaghetti strapped shirt Natalie slipped a grey scoop neck tank top over top of her head that had dark purple swirling designs coming up from the bottom of the material, then she donned a pair of simple darkish green colored pants that had a thick waistband and soon pulled her motorcycle style boots onto her feet. Once she was finished with that Natalie pulled her weapon's belt on and strapped her black colored coconut knife to her leg and placed her gun into its holster on her belt and then tucked another small knife into her boots.

Figuring she was as ready as she was going to be Natalie headed out of the tent.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_

Just as Natalie and Daryl suspected there was almost no one awake yet that morning, from how low the sun was Daryl would take a guess and say it was maybe six-thirty in the morning at the latest. Other than Daryl, Natalie and Marlie the only other people who seemed to be awake yet were Carol, Jacqui, Amy and Shane the last of whom was up on the RV doing watch.

"Awwe," Marlie whined once they were out of their tent and looked around the main camp ground for the other kids, she really had hoped one of them would be up. "I don't see Sophia." She said with a pouting lip on her face.

Marlie had been hoping that Sophia would at least be up and awake at this time of the morning, she had fun playing with her yesterday when they were out by the water with Amy who told them a really cool story about a mermaid. Back home Marlie used to hate school, the thought that it was really boring and would rather be spending her time outside – with parents like Natalie and Daryl it was hard for her to not like going outside a lot. Now though, the one thing Marlie missed was school because she missed being able to hang out with her friends, talking to them, eating lunch with her friends and going on field trips. Being at the Quarry was the first time that she has come into other kids in a long time, she wasn't going to pass up the chance to hang out with Sophia and the others.

"Remember what ya mama said," Daryl stated as he grabbed the knife sharpener that was by their tent and then settled himself in the camping chair, his and Natalie's knives needed to be sharpened in order to be sure they are in top condition and he really doubts that Natalie had a knife sharpener in her possession. "No whinin' or complainin' just 'cause there ain't no one to play with right now. We told ya that most of the kids wouldn't be up for a while." He stated as he took one of Natalie's smaller knives and began to sharpen it.

At that Marlie gave a heavy sigh and nodded at her dad, "I know. I'm not going to start whining or complaining. Promise." She said looking at him seriously.

Daryl studied her face for a few moments before nodding, "If you say so," he said and looked down at his lap and concentrated on the sharpening of knives that he was doing.

"I do," Marlie proudly and then went to her bag of things to do and took a few things out before settling herself down. "I'm gonna draw a bit and then give some pictures to everyone in camp!" she said happily.

Only a few minutes passed of Marlie drawing in her book and of Daryl sharpening the knives he and Natalie owned before the said woman finally stepped out of the tent.

Once outside and in the open Natalie raised her arms above her head and leaned back a bit to stretch her muscled and heard a definite crack of her back which made her groan in relief, one of the girlie things that Natalie used to do once a month was go to a masseuse and chiropractor to ease her sore and tired muscles and bones. It wasn't very often that Natalie pampered herself with expensive things like that, but those two things were godsends. If only she could somehow meet up with a person in the apocalyptic world that used to do those things then she would definitely be set, realistically though masseuses and chiropractors were not high on the list of people who would survive the Walkers.

"No kids huh?" Natalie asked as she glanced over at her daughter who was drawing in her notebook, whatever she was drawing must be really cool because her daughter was looking at it intently.

At that Marlie nodded sadly, "Yeah, guess none of them get up early." She said and shrugged. "Hopefully someone will get up soon so I have someone to color and play with." She said.

Natalie grinned at that and ruffled her daughter's hair, "The majority of them are probably not used to getting up before the sun either, so there is that. Give it time and maybe you'll be sleeping in or getting up at the same time as them." She said to her.

"I thought I could only sleep in when there's no school?" Marlie questioned innocently to her mother. "That's only on weekends and in the summer." She said looking between her mom and dad in confusion which made them snicker a bit.

Some day's Marlie was entirely too perceptive for how old she was and acted way beyond her years, but then other days, days like today she definitely acted like the six year old girl she was.

"Mar," Daryl said with a half smirk on his face. "I doubt ya are gonna be goin' back to school anytime soon. There ain't no schools that are operatin' no more." He told her as he finished sharpening the small knife that was in his hands and set it to the left of him – the finished pile.

When he said that Marlie looked at her parents, "Oh." She said quietly and then went back to her drawing. "Good. Now I won't have to see Mary-Beth anymore. She's mean ad stole my doll once."

Hearing that made Natalie shake her head in amusement, steal a little girls doll one time and she will forever hold it against you and would probably even take that grudge into high school. Little girls can hold grudges with the best of them.

Walking over to her husband Natalie took out the brush that she had tucked into her back pocket and held it out to him with a grin on her face; for a few moments Daryl looked between the brush and Natalie and raised his brow in confusion wondering what exactly was going on.

"How about we trade," Natalie suggested still grinning as she took the sharpener out of his hands and instead tucked the brush into it. "I'll sharpen the knives and you can do Marlie's hair." She said to him and grabbed the three or four knives that were still in his lap and then plopped herself into the camping chair that was beside him. "It hasn't been brushed in almost a week."

Normally Natalie would have tried to brush Marlie's hair at least once a day, but that was before the Walkers started to roam the country and threaten the survival of the human race. Marlie was cursed with having hair just like Natalie's and no matter what Marlie would somehow manage to get it so tangled and gnarled that it would take the better part of half of an hour just to get it into a manageable condition – hair ties were the only saving grace to hair like that. No matter what Marlie did or how little she played or touched her hair it would never fail that she would get it messed up. Once she got older it would get better but for now it wasn't happening.

Daryl looked over at Natalie, "How come I gotta do it?" he asked and gave her a pointed look for just taking the knives and sharpener right out of his hands.

Adjusting herself in the chair Natalie sat cross-legged in the chair and began to sharpen the knives, "Because I said so," she said with a sassy grin. "Just because I am the female in this marriage and the mother does not mean that I have to do the hair styling every single time." She said with a pointed look and just sunk herself even further into the chair, silently telling Daryl that she was not getting up. "So your turn." She stated and started to sharpen the knives that she took away from Daryl.

"Got quite the attitude." Daryl stated as he threw her a teasing look, he really didn't mind doing Marlie's hair all that much but he enjoyed play fighting and bantering with Natalie.

Natalie glanced over at him and grinned, "Learned it from you," she teased back at him. "Now stop flirting and do Marlie's hair, I think if we leave it any longer that we'll have to cut it off. Definitely do not want to deal with that episode if that's the case." She said pointedly.

Daryl shook his head and gripped the brush that Natalie had given him; there wasn't a doubt in his mind that Natalie was a force to be reckoned with and if she put her mind to something there wasn't anything in the world that could make her change her mind. IF someone told her to do something differently than what she wanted she wouldn't do it, she was stubborn as a mule. It was a good thing too, because if Natalie wasn't the way that she is there was no way that they would be together now. A lot of people had tried to convince Natalie to break up with Daryl in the first year of their relationship – a couple of Natalie's friend who thought that they were all that, some of Natalie's family members on her dad's side and even her sister for a while too but Natalie eventually won her over when her sister came down to Georgia for a visit with Natalie's niece. If Natalie had the mind for it she would probably be able to take over the world – no one would be safe.

"Hey Mar!" Daryl called over to his daughter.

Marlie looked up and over at her dad and smiled brightly, "Yes daddy?" she asked stopping mid color, she had been drawing a picture for her uncle Merle.

Like Marlie had told her parents she was making a picture for Merle of him looking lie a super hero, she really liked the story her mom told her about how her uncle saved her mom from those mean guys at that bar and she wants her uncle to remember the time.

"Come on over here and sit ya ass down," Daryl said to Marlie as he gestured to a long that was in front of him, usually he used it as a leg rest at night or where he cut up all of the meal the camp ate but it would work fine for a stool. "Let's fix that birds nest of yours." He said to her.

Marlie scowled at him as she stood up and walked over to him, "It ain't a birds nest." She stated determinedly.

At that Daryl snorted in amusement, "I'm sorry to tell ya this little one but it looks as if ya hair had a bird land in it and make itself at home." He told her honestly. "But don't ya worry I'm gonna fix it for ya and then you'll be good as new." He said placatingly.

Marlie huffed for a moment before she ungracefully plopped herself down in front of her father, "You're not gonna mess it up are ya?" she asked hesitantly, she was so used to her mom doing her hair that she wasn't sure if she trusted her dad to do it, her dad was a hunter after all and could skin an animal like no one's business but doing a girls hair was on a whole different level.

"Don't worry Mar," Natalie said to her. "Your dad can do girls hair perfectly fine. Trust me." She told him. "I've even managed to snarl him into doing mine once." She stage whispered to her daughter.

"No way!" Marlie said in shock as he dad started to try and run his fingers through her hair, trying to loosen up any snarls before he resorted to using the brush.

Natalie nodded confidently as she gently set down the knife she just sharpened to the ground, "Yep." She said to her proudly.

The shock in his daughter's voice made Daryl shake his head, "Just because I'm a hunter and a guy doesn't mean that I don't know nothin' about doin' a little girls hair Marlie." He said to her somewhat offended. "When ya mama was pregnant with you, your cousin Rora came down to visit for the whole summer and needed her hair to be fixed once in a while. Ya mama was so uncomfortable and hot that whole summer that she could barely sit in a chair without feelin' a bit squished let alone do ya older cousin's hair." He said a he took up the brush and started to brush from the bottom up. "I got roped into doin' Rora's hair more often than not."

Remembering those days Natalie burst out laughing, "God that was one of the worst summers I've ever experienced. I was pregnant and uncomfortable." She said shaking her head in amusement.

"Didn't help that it was one of the hottest summers Georgia has had in a while." Daryl threw in and gave a soft smile at the memory.

Daryl would never admit it out loud, least of all to Natalie but he loved seeing his wife pregnant. It was one of the most beautiful things that he has seen in his life, and that list was quite short and all filled with things that had to do with his family for the most part. Natalie was incredibly sexy during her pregnancy and Daryl loved almost every moment of it – the angry moments when the hormones were raging, not so much.

"Yeah that was so not fun," Natalie said dryly. "I couldn't wear anything without feeling like I was burning from the inside out. Dresses were my best friend that summer, made everything feel somewhat comfortable and kept me cool." She stated. "Jeans were too tight and thick for that summer and a majority of the shirts I had made me look a lot bigger than I was so I was definitely not going to wear those." She said with a shake of her head. "So dresses it was. If you would have let me I would have worn my bikini the whole time."

At that Daryl smiled to himself, he knew exactly why he told Natalie that she couldn't wear her swimsuit around all of the time. For one he didn't want any man to see her like that, she was sexy as hell when pregnancy and her breasts, god her breasts got even bigger than the D cup she already was – he was in heaven with those. He also was having a hard time trying to control himself from jumping her bones every time he saw her in regular clothes let alone a swimsuit, but he blamed it on the fact it wasn't appropriate if friends of theirs came over and saw her like that. Natalie knew the truth thought but pretended not to.

"Owwie," Marlie said suddenly drawing Daryl's attention to her as she grabbed at where he was brushing her hair. "Be careful. That really hurt." She told him and sent him a small glare.

Giving an apologetic pat to his daughter's head Daryl continued to try and comb through the mass of curls, "Sorry Mar," he said to her quietly. "Ya got a lot of knots and shit in here, are ya sure you don't got no bird hidden in this hair somewhere?" he joked and pretended to look around for the said bird.

Marlie laughed and swatted at his hands, "No!" she said to him with a grin on her face.

While the small family was having some alone time together and were teasing one and another and joking around the sun was starting to rise higher which meant it was getting closer to a more normal time for people to wake up; already there were a few people who were coming out of their tents and getting ready for the day – checking on the supplies that the camp had, seeing what there was that could be made for breakfast, adding some firewood to the main campfire and just really seeing what needed to be done for the day.

"Why are they starin' daddy?" Marlie asked her dad curiously and then gestured to a few of the campers who had paused in what they were doing when they saw the Dixon camp; the gawkers ended up being Andrea, Amy, T-Dogg and an older Mexican couple that Daryl couldn't remember the names of. "Do I gots dirt on me?" Marlie asked as she pulled away from her dad and looked up at him.

Daryl glared over at the campers before he responded to Marlie, "Nah girlie you ain't got any dirt on ya. They're all just bein' nosey asses," he said with a disgusted shake of his head. "What are ya'all lookin' at, huh? Ain't ya ever seen a father help his daughter with her hair?" he all but yelled at them with narrowed eyes. "Geeze people. Take a damn picture if it's that interesting. All of ya are actin' worse than gossipin' retired old ladies."

In response to her husband's outburst Natalie just rolled her eyes and watched as T-Dogg, Andrea and the older Mexican couple looked away from them and went on to doing whatever it was that they were doing. Amy though paused a moment and looked over at Natalie and waved happily before following after her older sister, Natalie responded back to Amy with a small wave and a smile.

Soon after Daryl yelled at the other campers there was some noise coming from the tent that was besides Daryl's – Merle's tent. Within a few moments out stepped Merle in all his glory, grinning widely he all but waltzed into the camp. For one he was glad to see his family and knowing that everything that happened yesterday wasn't just some weird after affect from some drug he took and secondly, Daryl was doing Marlie's hair and that was something he wasn't not about to pass up of teasing him for.

"Well if it ain't Darylina the hairdresser," Merle teased as he sat himself down across from where Daryl, Natalie and Marlie were at and in front of the small campfire that they had. "Are ya gonna do my hair next Darylina? Give me a pretty, new haircut. Maybe dye my hair a pretty shade of red?" he asked with a wide smirk on his face.

When Marlie saw her uncle Merle she grinned happily, her uncle may not be the nicest of people around….or nice to anyone who wasn't family really but no matter what Marlie loved him with everything she had in her. Merle was her favorite uncle ever, but then again she only had two uncles and the one on her mom's side didn't really do much with her when she did see him so Merle was the winner of that competition.

"Uncle Merle!" Marlie yelled at him and waved even though he was only sitting a few feet in front of her. "I made you somethin' really, really awesome." She told him proudly.

Hearing that Merle leaned a bit closer and looked at Marlie while Daryl was brushing her hair out, "Oh yeah? What would that be little dove?" he asked her softly, Marlie is the only one that he would ever talk to like that.

There isn't anyone else out there who he's felt deserves that kind of tone.

"I made ya some really awesome pictures of you," Marlie said with a wide smile on her face, she couldn't wait to show her uncle what she drew for him. "Mama told me a story 'bout you where you acted like a super hero for her and saved her from some mean people at the bar. So I drew you as a super hero." She said and grabbed at her notebook that she still had in her hand and held it up proudly for him to see.

Standing up and heading over to his niece, Merle took a good look at the picture that Marlie had made for him. It was a somewhat stick figure of what he assumed was himself, he was out in the woods and all around there were Walkers, but it showed him having killed them all and along his belt were a couple of dead rabbits too. Flowing behind him in the picture was a camouflage cape – kinda fit him perfectly. At the top it said Super Hunter Merle.

"That's ya super hero name," Marlie said proudly.

Hearing that Merle couldn't help but grin widely, "Well little dove this is one of the best gifts that I have ever gotten, I'm gonna keep it with me all the time. That a'right with ya?" he asked Marlie who nodded enthusiastically.

Carefully to not tear the picture, Merle took the drawing out of the notebook, folded it up a few times and then stuck it into the front pocket of his pants.

"I'm glad ya like it," Marlie stated with a smile on her face.

Turning from his niece Merle looked over at his brother and sister-in-law and gave a smirk, "So little bro," he stated as he went and sat back down in his chair. "About that haircut. I think that a little trim around the edges and maybe curl the –"

Before Merle was able to say much of anything else Daryl glared at his older brother, "I ain't gonna do ya damn hair Merle." He said to him as he started to separate Marlie's hair down the middle so that he could braid it and put it into pigtails. "The only thisng that I'm gonan do to ya is skin ya shitty ass. Chop ya up and then I'm gonna serve ya to the damn walkers. Think of it as revenge for bein' an ass." He stated to him.

Hearing that Marlie gasped and turned to look at her dad, "You're not gonna really do that to uncle Merle are you?" she asked in shock and almost believing that her dad would do that.

"Yeah," Merle said looking at his brother. "You wouldn't really kill ol' Merle would ya?" he questioned as he winked at his niece who gave a small giggle.

"Only on the bad days," Natalie answered from her spot besides Daryl. "Your uncle Merle can get a bit outta hand sometimes so we gotta put him in his place once in a while. I think throwing him to the walkers for a bit would be a good punishment," she joked to her. "We won't let him get seriously killed or anything just have a bit of bodily harm is all." She stated.

For a few moments both Daryl and Merle just looked at Natalie unsure of how to respond to that comment, "You know," Daryl started. "I don't know whether to be terrified of that comment and that you have put thought into how to injure someone or entirely turned on by it." He told her.

All Natalie did was laugh at him, "Hmm, I'm thinking more towards the side that will give us bedroom time." She said below a whisper to him with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Marlie just rolled her eyes at her parents, like her uncle Merle had said they act like they are much younger than they really are.

"You are a cold soul Natalie," Merle said shaking his head at her. "A cold, mean soul."

That made Natalie grin, "Ahh who else is gonna be like that with ya Merle?" she questioned as she set another knife down on the ground besides her, it was Daryl's hunting knife. "Someone's gotta keep you on your toes."

Merle just chuckled a bit at that and then turned towards his brother once again to tease him, he just couldn't seem to help himself. "So about that haircut." He said looking at Daryl expectantly.

In response to that Daryl growled a bit, "I ain't nobody's damn hairdresser," he stated and tied off one of Marlie's pigtails, it was one of the few hairstyles that he did know how to do that also kept her hair out of her ace while running around camp.

"Really?" Merle asked questioningly as he leaned back further into the camping chair and folded his arms in front of his chest. "'Cause to me it sure looks like ya got a new job Darylina. Forget bein' a hunter, be all the little girls' hairdresser. Maybe even paint their nails and do their make-up." He teased.

Daryl rolled his eyes at his brother and grabbed the end of Marlie's braided pigtail and tied a pony tail around it, "Whatever Merle." He grumbled in annoyance and then grabbed the other pigtail and did the same thing to it. "All done Marlie." He said to her.

Immediately Marlie jumped up and felt her braids and smiled widely at her dad, "Thank you daddy." She said to him and leaned up towards him and squeezed him tightly. "Do ya think any of the other kids are up yet?" she asked as she glanced towards the main camp area for any of the others but only saw a handful of adults.

"Doubt it," Daryl said to her. "You're the only kid who seems to be up even before the sun is." He told her with an amused shake of his head. "'Prolly will have to wait a little while longer until any of the kids get up."

Marlie sighed heavily and then sat down in the chair that was besides her uncle, "I guess I can wait, if I have to." She said overdramatically, she sounded more like a fourteen year old instead of the six year old she was. "Maybe when Sophia gets up we can go back by the water again."

It was already obvious that Marlie was going to be a handful when she got older; Marlie was a mix of Natalie and Daryl and there was no doubt in her family's mind that she was going to be a little hellion. Marlie had Natalie's fierceness, stubbornness and painfully blunt attitude, and she had Daryl's determination, his stubbornness as well and at times his temper but when that came out to play Natalie refused to bow down to her. Instead she let Marlie cry and at times even whined back at her which sometimes shocked Marlie into silence.

"So," Merle said deviously as he looked from his brother and then to his sister-in-law before his gaze settled on his little hellion of a niece who melted his heart, not that he would tell people that, he can't let people know that he was a big softie when it came to Marlie. "Did ya parents keep ya awake with all of the noise?" he asked with a well pointed smirk directed at Natalie and Daryl.

The moment those words left Merle's mouth Daryl groaned and face palmed, at times he really wished his brother was a mute and that he knew when it was appropriate to keep things inside his head rather than spewing them out for the world to hear. Natalie looked at Daryl with a raised brow and then over to Merle and gave him the coldest and darkest glare that she could muster, sadly though it didn't affect the man whatsoever. Balls of steel that man.

Marlie furrowed her brow and cocked her head to the side, "Noise? What noise?" she asked in confusion. "I went to bed but there weren't no noises. Mama and daddy went to sleep right after I did." She said innocently.

"Merle," Natalie warned her brother-in-law. "Don't even think of going there, I have knives on my person and within reach of me. I will hurt you." She threatened lowly to him.

In response to that Merle just laughed, "Ain't scared of you sister." He said to her as he laid one hand on the back of his neck and leaned back a bit in his chair.

Daryl sighed heavily, "Merle, don't." he stated. "Just…just don't." he told him.

In response to that Merle just ignored him, "There weren't no funny noises goin' on?" he asked with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"Can I kill him?" Natalie asked rhetorically as she leaned over towards Daryl.

Instead of answering Daryl just gave a small half-hearted smile.

"No," Marlie answered her uncle with a confused look on her face and then shook her head. "You're weird." She said to him. "I mean you are like, really, really weird."

Trying to stop himself but couldn't Daryl stifled a laugh, just the way and the look that Marlie gave Merle when she said that was too much for him. Marlie sounded and looked just like Natalie when she said that, she had the tone of voice and look down to a T.

"Didn't you know," Merle said conspiratorially to his niece in a stage whisper. "The weird ones are always the most fun."

Looking away from her family Natalie glanced out into the main camp area and saw that there were a few more people who were walking around the place, but what she mainly noticed was all of the surprised and accusing glances that were being sent towards Merle and Daryl. There's been many times that she has seen looks like those. They were usually directed at Daryl and Natalie when people found out that they were together and dating, or that they had a daughter together. The first time Daryl came to parent/teacher conferences for Marlie's kindergarten class, man how Natalie wished she would have had a camera to take a picture of all of the other parent's faces and the teachers. None of them were used to a supposed redneck hillbilly having a sweet daughter like Marlie, or for him to have a wife like Natalie.

It was obvious that the people here thought that he was trash and that he didn't deserve a woman like Natalie, very often Daryl had acted out because of some of the looks he's gotten when he was with Natalie and even tried to end it early on because he didn't want Natalie to be embarrassed by him but she gave him a talking. Though just because she convinced him that she loves him and doesn't care what people think doesn't mean the looks and shit don't affect them, they're still human and with feelings. Daryl is worthy of her, everyone else just needed to figure that out or stop giving them looks like that. He wasn't an idiot who only liked to hunt, drink and have sex. Judgmental assholes.

"What's goin' on?" Daryl asked as he leaned over and gently kissed behind Natalie's ear making her give a small happy sigh. "Ya zoned out." He told her.

Natalie turned away from the main camp area and looked at Daryl with a serene smile and shook her head, "Nothing important, just thinking about everything and anything at the same time." She told him. "I love you."

Daryl gave a barely noticeable smile, "Love ya too Nat." he replied back to her, he may not have really given her a smile but Natalie got the message and meaning of what he meant from the look in his eyes.

A/N: Hey hope you al liked the chapter it took me way too long to write it and i even split it in half so it wasn't too long for you all. Please review. I would appreicate it. Smooches.

Quote of the Day: Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible - the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family.

Virginia Satir


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Not mine sadly.

A/N: so the good news is that I am over my writers block. YAY! I only got over it because I decided to step away from my frustration and paint a bit and now I want to paint all of the time – which reminds me that I need to buy more paint.

A/N2: second awesome bit of news it was the end of the semester last week so I am done and free….at least until august then back to college for me.

Chapter ten

~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~

Once Daryl had finished Marlie's hair the little girl went back over to where she left her notebook and colors and decided to color a few more pictures for other people in the camp and meanwhile Merle, Daryl and Natalie were just lounging around talking about inconsequential things to pass the time. Natalie had finished sharpening the knives and had moved on to checking her recurve bow over and making sure that it was still in top shape and working order, she would have offered to look at and clean Daryl's but the man was a tad but possessive of the thing. He treated the thing like another child some days – best not to touch it.

"What do you want me to draw for you uncle Merle?" Marlie suddenly asked budging into the conversation that the adults had been having – Daryl and Natalie were arguing over in the recurve or the cross bow was the better type of bow while Merle said it was the compound bow all the way.

Merle looked over at his niece with a confused look on his face, "What?" he asked.

Marlie giggle a bit held up some crayons, "What do ya want me to draw, I'm drawin' you a picture silly." She said to him and looked up at him expectantly.

"I don't know Mar," Merle said with a shrug and gently tugged on the girls pigtails. "Draw me somethin' cool or somethin' that you'd like to see someday." He said and scratched the back of his head uncertainly.

There wasn't one artistic bone in Merle's body so he had no idea what to tell his niece to draw him and the things he did think of telling her were all hunting related and he was pretty sure that wasn't what she wanted to hear. Marlie has loved drawing and painting ever since she was born and that was definitely something that she inherited from her mother rather than her dad's side of the family.

For a few moments Marlie seemed to contemplate what she was going to make her uncle until she suddenly grinned widely, "I know what I'm gonna draw you," she said and started to draw a few stick figures onto the piece of paper that was in front of her. "I'm gonna draw you and daddy beatin' up all of the monsters. Beat 'em and smash 'em till they go splat." She said and even did a few sound effects to go along with those words.

When Marlie said that to Merle he couldn't help but give a small happy grin at her antics, Marlie was a small little fiery girl who was so full of life and wasn't afraid to be herself – something her parents had taught to her since she was born. When Merle first found out about Natalie being pregnant with Marlie he wasn't sure what to think, he liked Natalie and thought of her as family and was glad that Daryl had someone like her in his life but kids were a whole another thing. Kids were a different kind of ball game, Merle had never been around kids much when he was growing up, he was thirteen years older than Daryl and when he was born their mother barely let him around him let alone let him hold him; though at that age Merle would have rather been outside in the woods or riding his bike with his friends.

Merle wasn't stupid; he knew that he wasn't the best of kind of person for a kid to be around or to grow up seeing day in and day out so the fact that Natalie was pregnant scared him – though Merle would never in all his life admit to that, he wasn't a pansy. Marlie Cherianne Dixon was born on October 13th at seven forty-two at night, the moment Daryl put Marlie into his arms all of Merle's fear and hesitancy about being around a kid completely disappeared. Just one look at Marlie and he knew that she was a Dixon through and through, and there wasn't anything in the world that could tear him away from her. Merle was going to be there for her like how he wished he would have been there for Daryl while he was growing up, he was going to teach her things and show her what it truly meant to be a Dixon.

"Hello," a meek sounding voice said from the edge of camp. "I brought you all some breakfast." Carol said to them with a small, yet forceful smile. "It's just some instant oatmeal with a bit of brown sugar but it's better than nothing at all." She told them and gave a quick look between Natalie, Daryl, Merle and Marlie.

Setting her bow down next to her Natalie jumped up from the chair that she was seated in and took two of the bowls that Carol had carried over to the small family and handed one to Merle and then the other to Daryl before she looked back at Carol; the woman was very petite, short and was quite frail looking and had very short close cut pixie hair and seemed to always be looking over her shoulder. It was as if the woman was expecting an attack from somewhere within camp – curious.

"You didn't have to do that Carol," Natalie said to her as she grabbed the other bowls and handed one of them to Marlie who immediately started to eat. "We're not useless; we can come and get our own food." She stated feeling a tad bit guilty at making the older woman bring the food over to her and her family's camp.

Carol gave a small smile at that and waved off Natalie's concern, "It's fine, really. You guys were over here spending some time with one and another. You deserve to do that, and to be able to just spend some quality time with each other after the weeks you've been separated." She said to Natalie sincerely.

At that Natalie gave a half-hearted sigh of annoyance but gave Carol a nod in appreciation, "Thank you Carol, I mean it. It's very sweet of you to bring some food over to us but the next time just yell that there is food or something like that and one of us will come over and get it," she said and then gave Daryl and Merle a pointed look, silently telling them that she was definitely not going to be the one who would be doing that all of the time. "It's not like we're all staying at a five star restaurant and need to be catered to twenty-four seven. We're definitely not helpless." She said and then glanced at her husband and brother in law. "Well I'm not at least, don't know about those two some days. You should see them when they're sick; they act like such babies and are completely useless." She said with an amused shake of her head.

When Natalie said that both Merle and Daryl turned towards her and sent her a dark look but in response to their looks she just sent them a sweet smile and acted as if she hadn't done anything wrong. Over the years of knowing the two brothers Natalie has basically become immune to their dark looks and annoyed glanced which would make a lesser man quiver – Natalie won't take anyone's shit least of all her husband and brother in laws and if they can't take a few sarcastic remarks and jokes then they aren't the men they claim to be.

"All right Natalie," Carol said with a small laugh at the interaction between the brothers and Natalie. "I'll try and remember that next time." She said to them sincerely. "Try and enjoy your breakfast, all of you." She said and then turned to leave and head back over to where her husband Ed, and daughter Sophia were at before the sound of Natalie's voice stopped her from continuing.

"Hey!" Natalie said gaining Merle, Daryl and Marlie's attention. "You three have anything to say to Carol?" she asked with a pointed look at the three.

Seeing the determined look on his wife's face Daryl glanced away from her and then up at Carol and gave her a quick nod of the head, "Thanks for the food Carol." He said and then started to dig into his bowl of oatmeal; he definitely wasn't the biggest talker in the world or at least not to people he didn't know well.

Merle looked up from stuffing his face full of food and grinned widely, "Yeah thanks for the grub, it ain't the best in the world I 'spose but definitely better than havin' beans again. Getting; sick of that shit." He said to her and then went back to eating his food intently.

Hearing their response Natalie couldn't help but give a small chuckle at them and silently shake her head, never was it said that her husband and brother in law were the most eloquent of people in the world. Compared to what the two of them could have said she guessed their responses to Carol were as nice as it was going to get – at least the two said thanks in their own weird and unique way.

Carol nodded at them and then took a good long look at the Dixon family and gave a small sad smile; when Sophia had been younger, even younger than Marlie was there were days when she had dreamed and hoped of being a family like the Dixon's were. A family who loved and cared for one and another. God how many nights did she go asleep praying for that kind of family. A happy family. Natalie, Daryl, Marlie and Merle may not be the perfect family, or the kind of family that you envisioned or that you saw advertised on TV for stores used for modeling their products or even for those Vacation deals but the Dixon's odd family dynamic seemed to work and Carol was somewhat jealous of that happiness. So many times over the years she's wished for Ed to change, she's hoped that this was the last time he would every lay a hand on her and insult her or yell at her but every time she was disappointed; there was nothing she could do anymore she was in too deep and didn't know how to get out. All Carol could do now was hope and pray that someone or something would save her and Sophia from Ed.

"Marlie?" Daryl questioned as he glanced over at his daughter. "What do ya got to say to Carol?" he asked before Marlie was able to take another bite of food.

Marlie's spoon was about two inches from her mouth and she looked at it sadly for just a moment before she put it back into her bowl and then looked up at Carol, "Thank you very much Miss Carol for bringing the oatmeal so I can eat." She told her and gave her a bright smile.

At that Carol couldn't help but smile a bit in return, "It's no problem Marlie," she said and was about to say something else to the little girl but before she was able to a stern male voice yelled over at Carol.

"Woman get back over here!" Ed, Carol's husband yelled over at her. "What are ya doing over there anyways. We don't need to be mixing with their type more than we already have to."

Carol gave a barely noticeable cringe and gave a tight smile to the Dixon family before she turned around and hurriedly went over to where her husband was waiting for her at, watching closely Natalie saw that Ed grasped Carol's arm tightly before shoving his empty bowl into her hands. Narrowing her eyes Natalie clenched her spoon in her hand; she knew his type and already could figure out what kind of man Ed was and what he was more than likely doing to Carol.

Turning away from the sad scene Natalie quickly glanced at her daughter and saw that she was far enough away so that Natalie could have a quiet conversation with Daryl without being overheard, "What the fuck?" she asked as she looked at Daryl with fire in her eyes. "What does he mean by their type? Are we some lower class of people? That fucking ass doesn't even know us, and the majority of them look at you and Merle as if you are some kind of second class hicks." She said with a disgusted shake of her head at how the campers were treating her family.

"Nat, he doesn't matter. Ed is a piece of shit and no one really c-" Daryl started to say in a soothing tone of voice that usually always ended up sounding more gruff than anything else.

Before he could continue his sentence Natalie cut him off, "Don't you dare try and calm me down Daryl Matthew Dixon," she threatened and glared at him in anger, she was pissed off not just for the comment that Ed sent their way but because Carol was more than likely being abused by that nasty man – she hated men who abused and took advantage of their women.

Daryl clenched his teeth and gave a quick nod, "Yeah the ass has been abusin' her since we got here and from what me and merle can tell has been doin' it to her for years. The woman acts like a scared animal at times," he stated and looked into Natalie's eyes. "We don't know if Sophia is gettin' any of it though, we've been tryin' to keep a close watch of her though." He explained.

Both Daryl and Merle have nasty tempers at times and they can be quite explosive but never in their lives, no matter how angry and frustrated they've gotten have they ever laid a hand on a woman or a child, the two of them would rather hurt themselves before ever doing something like that. With the lives that both Daryl and Merle had growing up neither of them were all that fond of abusers, so Ed was definitely on their shit list.

When Daryl said that Natalie narrowed her eyes and looked over at Ed Peletier and wished so badly that she was the kind of person who blurred the lines of what is right and wrong – she would definitely kill Ed without a second thought, his type deserved to either die or be eaten by the Walkers. At this moment in time Natalie would have preferred him to suffer and be eaten by Walkers. You'd think with the camp being filled with all of these mismatched survivors that someone, anyone would step up and keep Ed from abusing his wife but apparently that's not the case, not even with a cop being right there in camp.

"You..you and Merle…you both know…I," Natalie said incoherently as she looked at her husband and brother in law in shock. "After what both you and Merle went through growing up with your father you both are just standing around and letting that poor woman get beat, not doing anything to stop it?" she asked in anger.

At that Daryl looked at his wife seriously, "No!" he said to her. "You think we haven't fuckin' tried to help her, geeze woman ya know me better than that." He said slightly insulted over the fact she thinks they haven't done anything to stop what was going on with Carol and her husband. "We tried to stop Ed the first few days we were in camp, got into a couple fights and beat Ed right up but Shane in his god damn fuckin' cop glory stopped us and said that it ain't our fight and it definitely wasn't our marriage to get into. Told us to back off and to leave it be." He growled in anger.

"I'm sorry," Natalie said once her husband finished and gently took Daryl's hand into hers. "I know you guys would have done something to stop it," she said and gave a heavy sigh. "I just hate seeing someone getting abused when I can't stop it." She said with a pained tight smile on her face and remembering years ago when she wasn't able to save her friend from an abusive boyfriend – her friend just kept on going back to him no matter what he did to her.

Daryl leaned over towards Natalie and gently kissed her lips and chuckled a bit when he tasted oatmeal, "I know Nat, ya are just wantin' to protect someone. I get that but we can't do nothin' to help her." he said with a shake of his head.

"Shane really said that?" Natalie questioned as she looked up at the RV where the cop was seated on the roof.

Setting his bowl down, Daryl ran his hands through his somewhat short hair. "Yeah. Said that if Carol isn't gonna ask for any of our help then it ain't our business to get into it and to leave it alone and just deal. Told us that we don't need no more drama or problems in camp then there already is." He said with a disgusted snort, the only drama going on in camp at the moment was the fact that Shane was fucking his dead best friend's wife.

Finding out what Shane's response to Carol getting abused was made Natalie angry, beyond angry actually and made her rethink her view of Shane. Shane was supposed to be a damn cop; a cop was a person who kept the bad people from hurting everyone else. But here they were, it was the end of the damn worked and the one lone cop that Natalie managed to run into isn't doing shit to keep an abused and battered wife from her abusive husband.

"Can we kill him?" Natalie whispered as she glared in Shane's direction, he was climbing down the latter on the RV and Glenn was going to be heading up.

When she said that Daryl gave a small laugh, "As much as I would love to watch ya do that, 'cause I really would Natalie. Watchin' ya beat up a guy as ya are yellin' at him and tellin' him how he's supposed to do things sound's really hot, but we don't need to deal with the drama that a dead body would bring." He told her with a half joking smile on his scruffy face. "I'd rather not go through the work of tryin' to hide a dead body on top of having to deal with all of the undead folk wanderin' around and tryin' to eat us."

Natalie sighed heavily and ate a bit more of her oatmeal, it was just plain flavored oatmeal not even the good kind at that. "If the abusive bastard goes too far I ain't gonna just stand back and let him wail in on Carol and Sophia. FYI." She said to him with determination and a pointed stare. "Nothing you can say will convince me otherwise."

For a moment Daryl thought of arguing with her, Natalie may be strong and fierce but she was still smaller than Ed and he was pretty sure Ed could pack a punch from the bruises that he's seen on Carol once or twice. He won't let her put herself in danger but so far Ed hasn't done anything to warrant someone needing to step in, and hopefully it would stay that way. Daryl would hate to have to get into an argument with his wife over something like this, but he will if it means Natalie stays uninjured.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ RV: Natalie, Amy & Sophia ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_

Once everyone had finished up with eating their breakfast Natalie volunteered to help with the clean-up from breakfast as a way to say thanks to everyone in camp for letting herself and Marlie stay with them, and also a thanks for them all not being crazy killer type people like the other groups that Natalie has managed to run into. Daryl and Merle had tried to convince Natalie to stay with them in their camp are and to just relax for her first official day of being in camp but she crossed her arms under her chest – kinda hard to cross them over your chest when you have big boobs – and told them that she was going to be useful to camp and if being useful meant doing a few menial chores such as dishes then she was going to do it.

So at the moment Natalie, Amy and Sophia were all in Dale's outdated RV doing dishes from the morning meal; thankfully they had a generator and basically lived right next to a water source without those two important things doing dishes would be a lot more complicating.

"Mrs. Dixon?" Sophia asked softly as she looked up at the older and stronger woman, Sophia hoped one day she could be like Natalie and be able to get away from her dad and to get him to stop hurting her mom all of the time. "Can I ask you something?" she questioned.

Natalie glanced down at Sophia from where she was washing the dishes from breakfast and smiled down at her, "Sure ya can sweets, but I gotta ask you to please not call me Mrs. Dixon. I may be Daryl's wife and enjoy being his woman but only official people call me Mrs. Dixon usually." She told her with a playful half smile on her face. "So how about you call me Natalie or Nat like most of my friends do. We're all friends right?" she asked.

Sophia gave a small nod, "I guess so." She said unsure of herself.

Even before the apocalypse happened Sophia didn't have all that many friends at school, it wasn't because she didn't want any because she really did but her dad told her she couldn't have friends that she and her mother weren't allowed to hang out with anyone outside of the family. The people who she was allowed to hang out with which was few and far between had to be approved by her dad.

"You guess so?" Amy asked with an amused smile and playfully flicked some water and the young girl. "C'mon you know you wanna be friends with us, us girls gotta stick together and make sure those men out there don't think that they know everything. You know how men are." She joked.

At that Sophia giggled and wiped the water off of her face, "Okay." She said as she took a dish from Amy and dried it off before putting it on the counter next to her.

Sometimes Sophia reminded Natalie of herself, not in the fact that Sophia had an asshole abusive father but because of how she presented herself. Sophia was naturally a quiet and reclusive girl which was more than likely from the years of growing up with Ed as a father, from one of the college classes Natalie took years ago she recalled that children from abusive families are basically ingrained from birth to be as quiet and seem as unimportant as possible so that they don't get in trouble or hit. It still pissed Natalie off that no one in camp was willing to do something to save this little girl and her mother from the abuse that Ed more than likely inflicts on them, it was complete bullshit that Shane demanded no one do anything but fine, whatever she'd play by the rules for now.

"So what did you want to ask Sophia?" Natalie asked looking at the twelve year old curiously and scrubbed stubbornly at the pot that had oatmeal stuck at the bottom, oatmeal that did not want to come off as easily as she had hoped. "You can ask me anything. Promise I won't get mad." She grinned hoping to ease Sophia's hesitancy.

For a few moments Sophia was quiet before she reached around Amy and touched Natalie's arm that had the half sleeve tattoo on it, "Did those hurt a lot?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

Natalie glanced down at herself and then grinned over at Amy and Sophia who were looking at her, "Nah, not really." She said with a shake of her head. "After the second or third tattoo you get used to the feel of the needle on your skin and often times miss and crave the feeling and the sound that comes with getting a tattoo." She said with a small smile on her face.

Hearing that Amy and Sophia exchanged looks before looking at Natalie oddly, "Okay Natalie, I don't want to alarm you but I think you have a weird obsession for pain. And needles are definitely painful." Any said to her with a shake of her head.

"It's a thing us tattooed people have in common," Natalie said with a shrug. "It's not meant in a weird or creepy way, but the sound of the tattoo gun and the first few moments of the needle touching your skin…. it's like finally having an itch that you can't reach getting scratched. Once you start it's hard to stop," she explained to the two girls and then paused for a moment. "Well unless the end of the world happens and you don't have any friends who are tattoo artists then it's kind of hard to keep the habit up."

Amy shook her head at Natalie, the woman was so completely different from who she figured Daryl would be with not that she really thought on that. "You're a bit odd you know that right?" she asked.

At that Natalie shrugged, "I do have my moments." She admitted. "Besides what's normal nowadays?" she asked with a grin on her face. "We got undead people walking around trying to eat us most of the time, what one thing about that is normal?"

"Touché." Amy replied.

While Amy and Natalie were talking Sophia had taken a good look at Natalie and all of the tattoo's that were visible on her body; there was her half sleeve on her arm that was a kind of creepy and dark scene from Alice in Wonderland, a small script tattoo on her left wrist, a tattoo on her ring finger, a tattoo on the back of her neck that Sophia couldn't quite make out and then there was a larger one on her back of two gothic roses with tribal designs underneath it – Sophia thought they were all really cool looking.

"My daddy said only bad people and criminals have tattoos," Sophia said as she tried off a couple of the cups that Amy handed to her. "He said that anyone with a tattoo was bad news and that we should stay away from them. That those kinds of people never get anywhere in life and are trash." She said to Amy and Natalie quietly.

Hearing that Natalie wanted to snort in amusement, it was obvious to anyone that Ed was a sexist, judgmental asshole who enjoyed looking down on all sorts of people and not just his own wife and daughter.

"I don't look like a criminal do I?" Natalie asked as she looked over at Sophia and jokingly looked herself over which made the girl laugh a bit. "I mean sure I do have quite a few tattoos and some criminals do have quite a few tattoos so there is a similarity there. Otherwise I think the only things I am, is a somewhat badass and having a few redneck tendencies but I get all of that shit from Daryl so I completely blame him for that." She said and laughed. "For the most part though I don't think I look like a criminal or a bad person really, right?" she asked looking at Sophia.

Sophia smiled at that and shook her head, "I don't think you look like a bad person Natalie," she told her. "I think you're really nice and cool."

"She's like the other older sister I always wanted," Amy said and she gave Natalie a one armed hug and grinned at her.

Smiling at that, Natalie blew a few soap bubbles at Amy and Sophia which made the two girls laugh, "Amy you're only saying that because you have an overprotective sister who can be a tad bit stern and serious." She said to her.

At that Amy shrugged, "Guilty." She stated and then grabbed another soapy dish from Natalie.

For a while after that the three girls fell into a comfortable silence and just concentrated on doing the dishes from breakfast; looking out of the window that was in front of the RV's sink Natalie could see that everyone was doing what chores they needed to do in order to keep the camp going for one more day. Everyone needed to work together to make sure things ran smoothly, everyone was linked so to say and counts on one and another to make sure things get done and they live to see one more day.

Taking another glance out the window Natalie rolled her eyes when she saw Daryl was standing a few yards away with Marlie and was staring at her intently; in response to his look she raised one eyebrow at him challengingly. The two of them were playing with fire and teasing each other subtly – you could cut the sexual tension that was between the two of them with a knife. Soon, very soon they were going to have to release that tension.

"You know," Natalie said reluctantly pulling her gaze way from her husband back to Amy and Sophia. "The doctor that delivered Marlie was covered from head to toe in tattoos and she even had a few tattoos on her neck and hands." She said as she looked over at the two of them, her doctor had been one kickass lady and the main reason she probably chose her for her main doctor was because of the tattoos. "Nowadays all sorts of people get tattoos, even top notch CEO's get tattoos and no one bats an eye until the business suit comes off. Our society just needs to be more accepting of creativity being shown on the body. Tattoos have been around for thousands of years." She said to them.

Amy looked at Natalie with a curious gaze, "So how many tattoos do you have exactly?" she asked.

Natalie considered that for a moment and then shrugged "To tell ya the truth I have no idea how many I have now. I stopped count after six or seven, but if I was to guess I'd have to say at least ten or so by now." She said as she ran her finger over the script that was written on her left wrist. "I could have totally seen myself as an old grandma covered in tattoos, well at least before the world went to shit I did. There were still quite a few more tattoos I wanted to get done and was hoping to convince Daryl to get a few more too." She said to them. "I think if the world would have gone as it was, no biters/walkers or whatever that I would have ended up as a cool badass tattooed grandma that everyone wished they had for a grandparents and Daryl would be the kickass hunter who even at ninety something years old would go out meandering through the woods hunting down deer and squirrel." She said with a snort of amusement.

With that comment being said all three of the girls laughed at the image of Natalie being old and wrinkly with tons of tattoo's littering her body and Daryl being an elderly hunter and the both of them being surrounded by children, now if that isn't an amusing thought who knows what is.

~_~_~_ ~_~_~_~ _~_~_~ Quarry: 1 PM ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

It's been more than a few hours since breakfast ended and so far Daryl has been more than patient…..well as patient as he can be at least. For a good portion of the day Daryl has been watching Natalie like a hawk and has been waiting for an opportunity where she was alone so that he could snatch her up and take her somewhere so that they could finally have their talk, somewhere where there wasn't any prying eyes of fellow campers. So far though Natalie has been keeping herself relatively busy; she made a string of cans and had a few of the kids help her put them up and around the outskirts of camp as a warning system in case the Walkers eventually did make their way up to the Quarry – smart idea actually. After Natalie had finished doing that she asked Carol if she needed any help sewing up some of the torn clothes of the campers, she helped make lunch for everyone, and now she and Glenn were reorganizing the camp's supplies so that it was more efficient or something like that.

At the moment Daryl was watching as Natalie was folding up a few blankets and putting them near the back of the van that they were storing a majority of the camp's supplies in, it made more sense to store the stuff in a random vehicle than to try and find a relatively safe spot out in the main camp area where animals could possibly get into it.

"Ya know ya face is gonna get stuck like that if ya keep on makin' that face," Merle said to Daryl as he unceremoniously plopped himself down into the chair that was beside his brother. "Then the wife is definitely not gonna be comin' to you for any lovin' ever again. Hadn't even had the chance to have reunitin' sex yet. Second best sex other than angry sex." He said with a wide grin on his face.

Daryl glanced over at his brother with a dark look, "Shut up Merle, I don't need ya to be talkin' about mine and Natalie's sex life. Or the fact we haven't had a chance to have sex since we found each other again." He said with a shake of his head and then went back to watching Natalie once again. "Ain't ya supposed to be huntin' or some shit like that?" he questioned.

In response to that Merle gave a snort, "Went and came back already," he said and leaned further back into the chair. "Ain't nothin' but bugs out there right now and then damn fuckin' squirrels are too damn fast to catch." He stated with a narrowed look on his face, he was annoyed that he wasn't able to catch one damn squirrel while he was out hunting.

When Merle said that Daryl tore his gaze away from Natalie – who at the moment was bent over giving a great view of her jean covered backside; and instead turned to get a good look of his brother. Taking him in Daryl gave a sigh and shook his head in disappointment when he saw Merle's jittery hand movements and took a quick look into his eyes – it would be nearly obvious to anyone that Merle took some sort of drug while he went out hunting. The idiot just couldn't help himself, Daryl had hoped that since both Natalie and Marlie were back with them that Merle would try and cut down and hell maybe even quit – though even he knew that was a stretch but he had hoped nonetheless. But apparently that wasn't in the cards, Daryl wanted to be angry and pissed off with his brother for pulling this shit when the world was ending but he wasn't stupid, he knew his brother and knew the likelihood of his quitting was slim to none. One of these days Merle was going to get himself killed because of the drugs or get scared straight.

"Maybe if-" Daryl stopped himself before he could finish that thought, he just wasn't in the mood to get in a fight with Merle about his drug problem not to mention it wouldn't really do any good – Merle's gonna do what Merle wants.

Merle looked over at his younger brother challengingly, "Maybe if…what?" he questioned with narrowed eyes.

At that Daryl shook his head and then went back to looking at Natalie, "Maybe if ya would have brought ya own damn bow with ya woulda had an easier time catchin' some game," he stated as he gestured to his own Horton crossbow.

That wasn't exactly the first choice of words that Daryl had to say to Merle but it was better than getting into a fist fight with him, plus Natalie would have a bitch fit if the two of them started wailing on one and another even more so if she ended up having to pull the two of them apart. When Natalie got angry it was not a pretty sight, she could be downright vicious at times.

"I don't need no damn bow," Merle said with a scoff. "All I need is my knife, been suitin' me just fine so far." He said as he patted his knife almost damn near lovingly. "Maybe ya should go 'n steal ya wife from helpin' the chink with whateva the hell they are doin' and stop bothering me about by choice of a hunting weapon." He suggested to him with a pointed look. "Can hunt just fine." He grumbled to himself and crossed his arms across his chest.

In response to that Daryl just rolled his eyes at Merle and then pushed himself up and off of the chair that he had been sitting in, slung his crossbow across his back, grabbed his bolts and then headed towards Natalie – she was going to becoming with him to have their talk, he's been more than patient enough.

It was Glenn who noticed Daryl first to which Daryl responded by giving him a sharp nod before gazing at Natalie's turned back; she was looking through a box of some basic medical supplies and from what he could tell she was complaining about the terrible system that the camp had and was amazed that it has worked for so long. Daryl shook his head in amusement when she started doing that.

Glenn was about to open his mouth and tell Natalie that her husband was there but before he was able to Daryl signaled for him to be quiet, so with a simple shrug of his shoulders Glenn went on with helping Natalie organize the supplies. Having Daryl standing behind the two of them and watching them was kind of creeping Glenn out – okay so technically Daryl was only watching Natalie but still the man was damn intimidating and scary when he wanted to be. Right now with the silent and intense stare thing he was doing, it was definitely intimidating and scaring Glenn to just the right amount.

"Dear god Glenn, I mean seriously." Natalie complained to the young Korean as she put the last medical supply into a box and situated it towards the front of the supply pile in the van and couched down to see what else she needed to look through. "You guys really need to put the more useful things to the front and in a more easily accessible area instead of putting it wherever the hell you feel like. And come on, we aren't going to need the heavy blankets for a couple more months, fall and winter will be here soon but not that soon."

Glenn just nodded at what Natalie was saying, "Right. Sorry." He stated and quickly looked over his shoulder nervously; Daryl was still standing stock still against one of the cars and was watching Natalie.

"You guys have damn near no organizational skills whatsoever," Natalie said with a disappointed shake of her head. "It's more sad than anything." She stated, if her mother could see this now she would have it unpacked, repacked and organized neatly within a couple of hours if not less – she could be quite the neat freak at times.

When she had said that Daryl couldn't help but give a small bark of laughter, "Ya know it's pretty damn funny to me that you are so adamant 'bout this stuff bein' organized when I'm sure that ya work desk back home was a complete disaster." He said to her.

Natalie moved from her crouched position and stood in front of the open doors of the van and looked over at Daryl who was leaning casually against a car that was only a few feet away from her, at the moment he looked like a model who just stepped foot off of a hunting magazine cover. Though, now that Natalie thought about it she wondered if hunting Magazine's had models like the Sport's Illustrated magazine did – half naked models of both men and women posing for the cover. If that's the case Natalie would have totally gone for it….well if it was Daryl on every single cover she would have. He looked sexy s hell when he was covered in dirty and forest after getting home from a day of hunting.

"Cat got ya tongue?" Daryl smirked when Natalie didn't respond to him.

Daryl could only guess the things that were going through his wife's mind right now, whatever she was thinking about he definitely knew it was something naughty especially since she was looking at him with dark, lust filled eyes. Oh the things the two of them could be doing if they were alone, hopefully today would give them a chance to do more than just talk.

"I wouldn't refer to it as a cat," she said with a playful look on her face. "And FYI the desk was more of a chaotic organization than a mess. I knew exactly where everything was that I needed without any problem," she retorted to him with a smirk on her face. "It was just everyone else who had problems trying to find their way through chaos." She said with an unregretful shrug. "Not my fault that a majority of people didn't understand it."

That statement made Daryl give a small, but quick smile which was so brief that Glenn could have sworn that he had imagined it. This was Daryl Dixon they were talking about after all, he wasn't the kind of person who would smile even if it was momentarily…..he smirked, he glared, he scowled and even growled but he definitely didn't smile.

"So," Natalie said with a small smile on her face as she walked away from the van and over towards where Daryl was at. "Dear husband, how has your day been?" she asked casually as she threaded her fingers into the belt loops of his pans and pulled herself a bit closer to him so they were nearly nose to nose. "Been busy?"

Natalie knew that he had been waiting for her impatiently for most of the day; she noticed him watching her for the last few hours but she wanted to be useful to camp and not be a freeloader so to say. So instead of going off with Daryl that morning to talk she helped around camp for a while, but now it seemed that Daryl's patience has ran out and it was time for them to talk.

At that comment Daryl leaned down towards Natalie's ear and lightly nipped at it which made her suck in a breath sharply, "Ya know how I've been most of the day, ya saw me watchin' ya hours ago." He said to her huskily. "don't think for a minute that I didn't notice the game ya was playin' with me woman, tryin' to wait me out and shit and see how long until I pulled ya away." He said as he grazed hos nose up the length of her neck. "We've played this game before Nat, and it wasn't me who ended up losin' if ya remember."

When he said that Natalie couldn't help but give a small half giggle/half laugh at that statement and lean her head against his chest; they have played this sort of teasing game many times over the years. They enjoyed seeing how far they could press each other until the other one broke and gave in. Natalie tried, tried being the operative word, to withhold sex from Daryl for two weeks for some offhand comment he made. Natalie barely lasted two days before she all but attacked Daryl during his lunch break in his office – she thoroughly enjoyed that day, or at least until Merle interrupted the two of them. Merle is talented at being a great buzz kill when Daryl and Natalie were having sex in random places; their kitchen, the garage, the woods behind their house and then Daryl's office at work.

"It's not my fault," Natalie said with a childish pout on her face. "You're addicting and I love sex. A lot." She told him innocently.

Daryl smirked, "Makes two of us then," he said to her and then pulled way a bit. "As much as I love talkin' about our sex lives I came over here for a reason." He said and looked at her seriously.

Right now all Glenn was hoping for was for both Natalie and Daryl to leave so he didn't have to hear any more about their sex lives even if they didn't give any details; the thought alone was scarring enough for him.

"You wanna go and have that talk now don't ya?" Natalie asked with a sigh, though she already knew what Daryl's answer was going to be.

Nodding Daryl looked into Natalie's dark brown eyes, "I need to know what happened Natalie." He said to her in a soft tone of voice and leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "I deserve to know and you know that. Ya said you'd tell me today and I ain't gonna be waitin' any longer."

Taking a deep breath Natalie nodded slowly, "Okay," she said quietly and gave him a somewhat pained smile, some of the things that she and Marlie went through weren't great and even Marlie didn't see everything that had gone on with the groups they were traveling with. "We probably should go and tell Marlie where we are going before we just head out, she'll throw a hissy fit if she goes looking for us and we're nowhere to be found." She explained to him. "She'll think the worst and somehow get the idea in her head that we were eaten by Walkers or something like that."

Hearing that made Daryl shake his head, "Let's go and find her then and tell her what we are doin' we don't need her goin' off to search for us herself." He said, as unlikely as it sounded for a six year old little girl to do something like that Marlie was the type who would – she was a leader, fiery and determined and at times that could be a bad combination.

"Hey Glenn," Natalie said as she glanced over back towards the van where Glenn was still sorting through a few of the boxes. "You're okay finishing this up, right?" she asked questioningly.

With a tight smile Glenn gave a sharp nod of his head without looking back at Natalie, he was still feeling a tad bit awkward after hearing the things that she and Daryl had said. He knew that married couples did that but he didn't want to hear or know about it whatsoever.

"I'll be fine Natalie," Glenn answered after a few moments. "Just go…go….go and do whatever it is you two need to do." He said with a wave of his hand. "I can handle this."

Natalie smiled at that and grabbed Daryl's hand and started to pull him towards the main camping area, "Thanks K-pop." She threw over her shoulder in a joking reference to Glenn being Korean. "Let's go and find that mischievous child of ours, there's no telling what she's been able to rope all of the other kids into doing. That girl has a silver tongue." She said to Daryl with a shake of her head. "Could talk the most evil of men to give up their life of crime and turn to the church."

Daryl just gave a laugh at that and then led Natalie over to where their daughter was at; she was sitting at a small group of tables with Carl, Sophia, Eliza, Lori and Carol and from the looks of things all of the kids, including Marlie were doing homework. Natalie was more than grateful for that, the world may have ended and the dead may have risen to eat the living but she would be damned if Marlie was going to be uneducated. Marlie was going to have hands on life skills that she needed for the world but she was also going to know Math, English, Science and history or at least as much as she could.

"Hey Marlie!" Natalie yelled lightly, gaining her daughters attention. "Can you please come over here for a sec?" she asked smiling lightly at her daughter, she was glad that Marlie now had kids near her age to be able to play with and talk with, she needed the interaction.

Marlie grinned widely when she saw her parents and quickly dropped her pen to the table and ran over to her mom and dad and hugged both of their legs, "Hi Mama, hey daddy!" she said with a wide grin on her face. "Guess what Miss Carol is teaching me." She said to them excitedly.

"What?" Natalie asked as she crouched down to her daughter's level and looked at her with genuine curiosity.

"I've been learnin' math," Marlie said to her. "It's kinda complicatin' but once I gets into it and know what I'm 'spose to do I can to it easy peasy lemon squeezy." She said to them proudly, she hoped that her parents were proud of the fact that she was understanding math.

"That's my girl," Daryl said as he gave a gentle pat to Marlie's hair and smiled to himself when he saw a few hairs escaping from the braid that they had put it in earlier that morning. "Ya gonna be real smart one day Mar."

Natalie kissed her daughter's cheek, "That's great Marlie. You know, I've enver been all that good at math maybe you can teach me a thing or two. Maybe if i learn it from you I will understand it better," she suggested to her. "Your dad over there is the one who has always been good with numbers." She said and pointed a thumb over in Daryl's direction. "Me, not so much." She said with a grimace and shook her head.

Hearing that Marlie looked up at her dad, "Really?" she asked.

Daryl gave a nod of his head, "Had to with my work, but somethin' about numbers just always made sense. But all of that technology stuff and artistic shit ya mama does, I just don't get." He said pulling a face and ignoring the look Lori sent him for swearing in front of the kids. "Ya mama has crazy skills with a computer." He stated.

"Come see what I did," Marlie said with a smile and pointed over at the table she had been sitting at. "Come see, come see! Ya two will be amazed." She said and grabbed both her mom and dad by the hand and tried to pull them behind her.

Before Marlie was able to try and pull her parents all that far the sound of her dad's voice stopped her, "Mar," Daryl said seriously making his daughter turn and look between him and Natalie. "We need to talk to ya about somethin' and then ya can get back to workin' with math if ya want to." He told her carefully and hoped that Marlie wouldn't overreact too much to what they were about to tell her.

Marlie furrowed her brow and looked at her parents questioningly, "What's goin' on?" she asked as she bit on her lower lip, a habit she picked up from her mother.

Hesitating a moment Natalie pushed a stray hair behind her daughter's ear, "Me and your daddy need to go and talk for a while about some stuff," she explained. "We need to do that alone and here in camp with so many people around we can't get much alone time." She stated carefully.

Before the world ended Marlie was a pretty tough girl and could take almost anything thrown at her – she as a Dixon after all, but with all of the things that she and Natalie have been through just to get to Daryl….well Marlie needs a bit of time to deal with what happened. Marlie has been a tad bit overly attached and clingy since they were reunited with Daryl and even a bit before that fact; when Daryl had gone to the woods to go get some fire wood to chop up Marlie had barely let him leave. What she really needed was for both of her parents to talk to her about what happened with the groups and the undead walking around.

"NO!" Marlie all but yelled which drew the attention of the kids at the table and from a few other people within hearing distance. "You can't leave me! You said you wouldn't leave me, that we were going to be a family and we can't do that if you two leave me and never come back again." She said in a slightly panicked voice.

At that Natalie looked at her daughter comfortingly, "Now Marlie, you know me and your daddy would never leave you." She told her as she looked into her daughter's beautiful blue eyes. "We love you and aren't going to leave you, not ever. But me and your daddy need to talk and we need to do that alone. But we will come back." She told her.

When her mother said that Marlie just shook her head stubbornly and crossed her arms and sat herself down right where she was standing in front of her parents; no matter what Marlie wasn't going to let them go off by themselves, if she let them leave then they might not ever come back and she wouldn't be able to live with that. She needed her mama and daddy, she didn't know how to survive by herself and then she wouldn't have anyone to protect her from the Walkers. Her mom and dad were the only people who could protect her best from them. They couldn't leave.

Sighing Natalie grasped Marlie by the arm gently and tried to pull her up but the girl refused to move, "Mar, get up." She said and tugged once again but the girl just wouldn't move. "Marlie stand up on your feet, you're six years old and damn near seven and are not a toddler anymore so stop this right now." Natalie demanded.

In response to that Marlie just huffed and kept her arms crossed and glared across the camp.

"Marlie Cherianne Dixon!" Daryl growled at his misbehaving daughter. "You don't ever ignore ya mama when she is tellin' ya something. Ya got me girl?" he asked as he looked down at her but she again said nothing. "You best respond to me unless ya wanna get in trouble." He said sternly.

Marlie scowled, and if Natalie hadn't been so annoyed with how Marlie was acting she would have laughed at how Daryl it looked.

"You guys can't go!" Marlie whined, and was close to tearing up. "I won't let you! I don't want to be an orphan. You guys are being mean and are going to abandon me. I'll hate you forever if you leave!"

The whole time that this was playing out the campers were all watching with baited breath, wondering how exactly the young family was going to deal with the tantrum of a six year old little girl.

Hearing that response Natalie was done playing the calm mother, she has taught Marlie better than this and she was giving her a bit of a leeway because of everything that has happened but it definitely did not qualify such a hissy fit.

"Marlie look at me right now!" Natalie said lowly and carefully as she stood up and looked down at her daughter. "You better start acting like a big girl right this second or else you are gonna be in a world of trouble. We didn't raise you to act like a spoiled rich little brat," she said to her with her hands on her hips as Marlie looked up at her. "You are old enough and know not to be saying or acting like this. You're six years old and I know you can act so much better than this and you I better never hear you say that you hate us" she said as she pointed at her daughter and then gestured to herself and Daryl. "We are your parents, not your slaves, not your friends, not you're maid and not someone you can treat like crap. You never tell us things like that again."

Kneeling in front of his daughter Daryl cupped Marlie's angry face in his rough hands, "I love you Marlie but you need to stop actin' like a child who needs to still be in diapers." He stated. "Ya mama and I need to talk, there is no gettin' around it and we are gonna go whether ya like it or not. There are things we need to talk about, ya mama and I but we thought that if we left that our daughter would act like a little adult. The Marlie I used to know would be fine with us leavin' for a while to talk, the Marlie I know acts like a six year old and the Marlie I know is strong and confident and fearless and can take care of herself just fine." He said with a stern look on his face. "This Marlie isn't the one I raised, I don't know where she went but this definitely ain't the way she acts."

For a few moments Marlie looked at her dad and then up at her mother's hurt and angry face before her lip started to quiver and tears began to run down her face, quickly wiping at them so that her parents didn't think that she was a baby she looked down at her feet regretfully.

"Mama, daddy." Marlie said in a much calmer and quieter voice "I'm….I'm sorry." She said to them sincerely. "I didn't mean to be actin' like that. I was ove…over'eactin' and said something I didn't mean." She apologized to them. "I don't hate you." She whispered. "I couldn't ever hate you, I love you both more than all the sand in the whole wide world."

Daryl nodded and kissed her forehead, "We know that but you need to understand sometimes adults need to go and talk, ya mama and I need to have some alone time to talk about some things. Okay?" he asked looking at her intently.

At that Marlie nodded, "Okay daddy." She said with a smile smile.

Standing back up Daryl lifted Marlie to her feet, "Ya ever talk like that to ya mama and I ever again, saying ya hate us then you are gonna get a worse punishment than whatever ya mama has planned for ya." Daryl said to her admonishingly. "I love ya but ya can't get away with actin' like that."

Marlie nodded in agreement before she hesitantly looked up at her mom, "Mama?" she questioned quietly. "I'm really, really sorry 'bout how I acted and sayin' that I hate you when I don't. I love you bunches. I just was bein' silly." She said and looked at her mom hopefully.

Taking a few calming breaths Natalie looked at her daughter with an unreadable expression on her face, "Mar I'm not angry, but I'm not happy either." She told her honestly. "I love you, but you need to act like my six year old girl. I need you to be a little adult for me." She told her and then glanced over at the camp and saw that a few of the campers had stopped what they were doing to watch the small family feud. "I'll always love you no matter what." She said and leaned down to kiss Marlie on the crown of her head.

"I love ya too mama!" Marlie responded without hesitation.

Looking over at the other campers who couldn't help but stare at them Daryl gave a dark scowl, it was as if they enjoyed seeing him, who they think is a heartless, anti-social outcast acting like a father. It's as if a half of these people in camp have never seen a family interact with one and another before but Daryl knew for a fact it was because it was him who was doing the family thing, they never thought he would be the kind to have a wife and kid yet here he was. They all needed to mind their own business and stop staring at him and his family whenever he did something that they weren't used to or didn't think he did.

Pulling away from her daughter Natalie smiled down at her, "I need to talk to Carol real quick, okay?" she said to her daughter who nodded.

"Okay mama." Marlie said now in a better mood than she was before.

Walking over to where Carol, Lori and a few of the kids were seated Natalie looked at Carol hopefully, "I know I don't have a right to ask this seeing as I haven't been here all that long yet but do you think that there is any way that I can ask you to watch Marlie for me and Daryl while we go into the woods for a but to talk?" she asked looking at the older greying woman.

Carol glanced up at Natalie from where she was seated beside Sophia and having her do some math and then over at Marlie who was talking animatedly to her father, "It would be no problem Natalie," she said with a smile. "She seems like a very bright child and is actually really good at math." She said to her.

Hearing that Natalie smiled, "That's good, wish I could have been like that at her age." She said to her offhand before shaking her head from the thought. "If anything happens or you don't think you can watch Marlie anymore just have Merle watch her if he is around or ask Amy." She stated.

"It's fine Natalie, Marlie will be just fine with us." Carol told her with a small smile. "I promise you." She said confidently, something that she has barely felt in the last few years.

Without much of a warning Natalie leaned down and gave the older woman a quick but tight hug, "Thank you! I really do appreciate the things you've been doing for us." She told her sincerely.

Carol just smiled at that, "Go and have your talk with your husband," she said with a wave of her hand. "He already looks like he is getting antsy."

Natalie laughed a bit at that, "Something along those lines." She said with a shake of her head. "Bye, we shouldn't be more than a few hours." She told her to which Carol nodded in understanding.

Hopefully Carol understood her subtle meaning when she said that if Carol couldn't handle Marlie to give her to someone else, she meant that if Ed started acting up and being violent to send Marlie away so that she wouldn't see it and wouldn't get hurt. She hoped it wouldn't come to that but just in case she had a plan.

"Ready?" Natalie asked as she looked over at Daryl.

Giving a quickly nod Daryl turned to his daughter to say by but saw that she was already back at the table with Lori, Carol and all of the kids. "One minute she is distraught over us leavin' and the next we don't even get a goodbye. I see how it is nowadays." He said with an amused shake of his head.

Smiling Natalie grabbed his hand, "Don't worry I'll always be here for you Daryl." She said to him and grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows as they passed by their own campsite. "I ain't ever gonna leave ya, not ever." She said putting on a fake, yet very convincing southern accent.

The only response that Daryl had to that was to shake his head at her, wondering about her sanity and continue on making his way into the woods with Natalie in tow. He was finally going to find out what happened to Natalie.

~_~_~_~_~~_TWD ~~_~_~_~_~_TWD~~_~_~_~_~_~_~TWD~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

Quote of the day:

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.  
**Eleanor Roosevelt**


	11. Chapter 11 : Part One

Disclaimer: Not mine, nor will it ever be :(

A/N: Hey i'm back. About time right? I'm so sorry that i have been out of writing for such a long time but school ended and then i had to pack up my apartment and move. I couldnt afford it by myself anymore and couldnt find a roommate so i now live with my 70+ year old grams who actually likes watching The Walking Dead. Score!

A/N2: I love you all and thank you for everyone who is following my story, who reviews and all that fun stuff. You guys are kickass and i would get you all icecream or any food of choice if i could.

Enjoy

Chapter eleven

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Natalie & Daryl ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Once Natalie and Daryl had left the vicinity of the camp the two of them walked for a good long while to make sure that they wouldn't be overheard by any of the overly curious campers – well more than likely the kids who wanted to eavesdrop on an adults conversation but some of the adults were just as curious as any of the kids were.

Daryl had his crossbow in hand and at the ready just in case they did end up running into any walkers while they were out in the woods, other than his prized crossbow Daryl also had his hunting knife and his hand gun on his person – there were only so many Walkers he could take out with his crossbow before he ran out of arrows. Natalie on the other hand had her recurve bow slung over one shoulder with a quiver of arrows strapped to her back, and she had her favorite knife which was a long black coconut knife that was a bit longer than her forearm which at the moment was strapped to her leg.

For the most part Natalie loved that she had a badass redneck husband, even when he did act a bit possessive and overprotective (sometimes when he did that Natalie found him kind of hot, adorable and cute all at the same time) but there was no way in hell that she was just going to sit back and let him have all of the fun – she could protect herself just fine. Plus, Natalie did manage to jeep herself and Marlie alive for the last few weeks without Daryl to be there to protect either of them and only had a few minor issues – well okay so there had been a couple incidents that were at ad bit worse than minor but the majority of those were human threats rather than from Walkers.

"Daryl," Natalie said calling up to her husband who was a few feet in front of her and leading the way through the woods. "I know that we've been walking through the woods for at least an hour or so by now." She told him matter of a factly and then ducked under a low tree branch and damn near stumbled over some foliage that was covering some rocks – she liked the outdoors and was pretty adept at it but she was no Daryl. "I think it's safe to stop now. No one can hear us out here."

Glacning over his shoulder at his wife Daryl gave her a blank look before nodding his head forward, silently signaling for her to keep on following him. "I wanna be sure that none of them damn nosey people are abel to be hearin' what we are talkin' about." He said fiercely, too many times has he caught them listening or watching him and Merle who were talking privately and he knew it was because the camp didn't trust their redneck asses. "Only people that need to be hearin' what's being said is you and me."

Natalie gave a barely audible snort of amusement and shook her head at her husband, "You worry too much dearie," she said as she strode up the few feet to be walking besides Daryl. "Not to mention I sincerely doubt that half, or really any of the people back at camp like us enough to go traipsing through the woods, following us through all of the terrain, and not to mention most of them suck at camping, just to hear what we have to say," she said to him with a pointed look. "I mean you and I may be smexy beasts, and the people may be going through withdrawals from having no celebrity gossip magazines but I know we aren't that interesting."

When she said that Daryl looked down at her with a playful glint in his eyes but before Natalie could ask what was on his mind he wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulled her into his chest and swopped down and captured her lips in a quick kiss.

Resting her hand in Daryl's hair Natalie pulled a bit away and looked into her husband's blue eyes, "What was that for?" she questioned.

"You'll always be more interstin' to me than any damn celebrity on TV." Daryl stated and moved his hand from where it was resting just under her shirt to the back of her neck and pulled her head towards him and gently kissed her on the forehead. "Now come on, we still got some walkin' to do." He told her.

At that Natalie stopped where she was and crossed her arms below her chest – when you have big boobs it makes it terribly complicating to try and cross your arms across your chest, and all it really does is make them look just that much bigger.

"Nope, not happenin' Daryl." Natalie said to him with a determined yet stubborn look on her face.

Daryl looked at her, "Nat just a little bit longer," he told her.

When he said that to her Natalie laughed, "Daryl we've been married for damn near six years and have known each other for almost ten I ain't stupid. Your version of a little longer and everyone else's version of a little later are completely different." She said. "I think we're almost to Canada, I can hear the moose call and hey," she said with a smirk on her face. "Maybe we'll be lucky enough to catch one and have some moose burgers. I've heard those are pretty good." She joked to him.

"Oh stop ya complainin' woman," Daryl said and sighed heavily before glancing around where they were stopped at; a few feet away from where they were was a good sized log that looked to be big enough for the two of them to sit on and have their talk. "All right fine, fine. You win this time woman, we'll stop here." He said to her.

Natalie grinned at him and raised a brow, "This time?" she asked rhetorically.

Daryl just rolled his eyes at her, grabbed Natalie's free hand and then dragged her over to the log and gently pushed her down into a seated position and then took a seat opposite of her and with a good six or more inches separating them so he could have a good look at her.

For a couple moments neither of the two said anything; Daryl just patiently sat there with his crossbow laid across his lap and watched all of the expressions that went across Natalie's face while she was thinking. He understood that Natalie needed a few moments to herself so that she could try and calm herself down from the memories that were going on in her head and to try and get everything together and tell Daryl what happened to her and Marlie while they were separated those few weeks.

"Okay," Natalie said after five minutes of silence and looked at Daryl in his grime covered glory. "Daryl there are things that happened that you are not going to like, and more than likely you are going to get pissed off and angry but can you try….just try to keep somewhat calm?" she asked with a hopeful expression on her face.

Natalie loved everything about her husband, even with his faults but this was a conversation that she needed him to be somewhat calm for, she in particular needed him to be calm so she didn't lose her nerve.

Daryl gave his wife an amused half smile, "Nat no matter what you tell me I am gonna be getting' angry' I'm angry at the whole Walker situation, I'm angry that we was sep'rated when all this damn shit went on, I'm angry that you and Mar had to survive so long by yourselves and I wasn't there to protect the both of ya." He told her honestly. "I doubt there's any way to get around me bein' pissed off at what happened but I'll do my best to keep it in check, no promises though."

"Suppose that's the best I can ask for," Natalie said with a tight smile before she looked down at her hands for a few moments.

Reaching over Daryl gently grasped Natalie's chin in his fingers and lifted so that he could look his wife in the eyes, "What happened Natalie?" he asked with a searching look. "What exactly went on while we was away from one and another? What happened to you and Marlie?" he asked looking at her intently.

Momentarily closing her eyes Natalie took a deep breath before she opened them once again and looked at Daryl, "Where do you want me to start?" she asked as she ran her hands through her hair, a nervous habit of Natalie's that she's had since she was a kid.

Daryl paused a few moments before he answered, "The last phone call we had, after that call I thought you and Marlie had died." He said darkly, that was one of the worst days of Daryl's life and all the way until he, Natalie and Marlie were reunited he was a damn mess and pretty close to being suicidal – what person wouldn't be after thinking that they had just lost their wife and daughter.

Giving a small nod Natalie took a calming breath that would hopefully give her some courage to tell Daryl what exactly happened to herself and Marlie. It's sad to say but the two girls did not see the best of things while they were trying to get to Georgia; the apocalypse happened and with that the darker side of the human race came out and a lot of people let it take them over. Greed, selfishness, hate, anger and everything and anything in between. Sometimes it was the living people that you had to worry about rather than the Walkers – humans can stab you in the back and betray you with Walkers it's simple…..they just want to eat you.

"Me, Marlie and my Grandma and Grandpa Sully were attempting to make our way to one of the refugee centers in Phoenix," Natalie started as she looked at Daryl. "We were in traffic for so damn long, I mean what would have usually only taken an hour in a half or more was turning into three or four hours. The high way was terrible and it was just utter chaos and miles and miles of traffic jams; it became obvious pretty fast that there was no way that we would be able to make it into the city that night, and more than half of those people wouldn't able to either." She said with a downcast expression and a small shake of her head. "I somehow managed to convince my grandpa to get off at the closest exit and go to whatever town came up first and stay at a hotel there for a while and then try and make it into Phoenix when the roads aren't so bad, when everything calmed down and people aren't panicking so much." She stated and then looked down at her hands that had a few scraps on them from helping out around camp. "You know how stubborn my gramps can be so it was a miracle that I was able to convince him to do that at all. When he sets his mind to something it usually stays there." Natalie said looking at Daryl with a half amused grin in remembrance of her grandpa.

When Natalie said that Daryl gave a small smile; one thing that Natalie, her grandpa and her mom all had in common was the stubbornness and from what he can tell it's a family trait – Marlie was just as stubborn as her mother. Shifting a bit from where he was seated Daryl set his bow down by where one of his feet were and scooted a bit closer to Natalie and grasped one of her hands that were nervously tapping at her thigh, and then held it in his larger and more calloused ones and rubbed at it soothingly. Silently offering her support without really having to say anything.

Giving a thankful smile Natalie continued on with her story, "We found some random town called Wickenb..Wicken something I can't remember, and we managed to find a Super 8 to stay at. It wasn't the nicest of places or the classiest but there was room for the four of us and the door locked and that was what counted most I 'spose." She said to him with a shrug of her shoulders. "But before we had left my grandparents place we packed a few easy and simple meals, some basic gear that my grandparents managed to have at their place – it's not like they're all that young anymore and able to camp whenever they want to. But we did manage to find some things that would be of use." She said and took a slow breath in and then carefully let it out.

"Natalie?" Daryl asked in concern. "Ya all right?"

Giving a quick shake of her head to clear everything that was going on inside of it Natalie gave him a small smile, "I'm doing fine," she told him and pulled is hand closer to her and gave his knuckles a gentle kiss before holding it back in her lap.

Daryl gave his wife a skeptical look, "We can stop if-"

"No," Natalie immediately said interrupting what Daryl was saying. "I'm okay Daryl, I promise." She said looking at hi convincingly and intertwined their fingers. "So it was just the four of us in that one bed hotel room and for a few hours we just sat there and watched the news and looked out of our hotel room at everything that was going on outside." She said and gave a soft scoffing sound. "We locked the door as good as we could with it being a Super 8 hotel and whatnot, and besides just doing the locks on it we put a chair up and underneath the handle to make sure that nothing would be able to get in – what we didn't realize at the time was that if they wanted to get in and eat us that they would find a way to do it. We were stupid in thinking that…..I was stupid. I was the one who came up with that brilliant idea." She confessed.

"Hey now," Daryl said admonishingly as he gently tugged on Natalie's long curly blonde hair. "Ya ain't stupid. No one thought that these things would be smart enough to do half the shit that they do." He said to her. "They may only op'rate on survival but they are willin' to damn near anything to get to us and eat us." He said to her, acting comforting in his own and unique way.

Natalie nodded at that, "I know, I know you're right." She said softly. "But just because I know that doesn't make it any easier to deal with." She stated and subconsciously started to crack her knuckles. "That night, when you called me, we had been hearing them moaning and walking around but we had been keeping quiet for the most part." She said to him. "Marlie was coloring, we had the TV on mute and all of that kind of stuff, and as cold and mean as this is going to sound there were other people outside who weren't smart enough to stay inside and they were keeping the Walkers busy." she told him, she did feel remorse for those people and wished she could have done something to help them but her own safety and her daughters safety came first. "Seeing those things and hearing what came after….it was just terrible Daryl. It was like Dawn of the Dead without all of the cheesy special effects and without the option of turning it off when you get too freaked out." She said. "I have no idea why they started to come at us, maybe they heard my phone or the static of the TV or something, but one minute you and me were talking and then the next thing I knew the Walkers were clawing at and breaking the windows of the place and let's just say that Super 8 doesn't exactly have the sturdiest of things. It broke within moments and then all hell broke loose." She said and paused a moment to gather her thoughts back up.

"Daryl our daughter was so close, so so close to the window." Natalie said with a shaky breath. "I damn near had a heart attack right then and there. I managed to get Marlie out of harm's way and into the bathroom, my grandpa and I took out the knives that we had and tried to fend the three or four Biters that were coming at us. We somehow, by the grace of whatever higher being you want to believe in, managed to kill them but we knew that we had to get out of there and fast. Other Biters…Walkers, were bound to have heard the fighting and yelling. So as fast as we could we packed up what we had and got the fuck out of dodge. Even if we did survive that attack, it wasn't without a price." She said with a as she pursed her lips and blinked a few times.

Daryl looked at her in concern, "Nat what-"

"Both of them were bit," Natalie stated bluntly. "Both my grandma and grandpa were bit." She said trying to hold the tears back that were already forming in her eyes; this was the first time that Natalie has really thought much about those first few days of the apocalypse.

Looking at his wife Daryl knew what happened and what she more than likely had to do to make sure she and Marlie were safe, if Natalie's grandparents had been bitten then there was nothing that could have been done to save them from what they would become. In the first few days of the outbreak people – mainly doctors and nurses, tried to help the bitten and scratched, and they treated it like it was any other wound but it was a wound that wouldn't heal. The affected area would only continue to bleed and the affected person would only get worse and worse each and every day. Soon though the person would get a fever, start coughing up blood, have their bones feel so brittle that even a simple hug would hurt them, they would get the chills, sweat a lot and then the next thing you know the person is gone and coming back as a Walker.

"Dear lord Natalie," Daryl said as he closed his eyes at the thought of what happened for a few moments. "I'm so fuckin' sorry, I wish I would have been there." He told her sympathetically.

Daryl liked Natalie's grandparents on her mother's side, the Sully's were nice, laidback and accepting people unlike her father's side. The Sully's treated Daryl as if he has always been a part of the family, and well they acted just as hick as he did at times even if they were all from Minnesota.

Natalie nodded, moved forward a bit and laid her forehead at the nape of his neck and continued on telling him what happened without moving from her position. "We made it to a hotel that was in another town that was maybe an hour or so away. The whole town seemed to be abandoned, it had maybe a couple thousand people if that even. There wasn't anyone in the hotel even – everyone just up and left for the refugee centers more than likely. So I went just took the master key and got us some rooms." She said and gave a half shrug and leaned further into the warmth that Daryl was giving off. "I went and grabbed the first aid kit that the hotel had – it was pretty sparse but it was better than nothing. I tried to help them, I tried to help my grandparents and stop the bleeding but nothing I did helped. I did everything I could…..I just…..I couldn't help them." She said forlorn.

In response to that Daryl let go of Natalie's hand and instead rubbed soothing circles on her back, hoping it would help to calm her down a bit.

Giving a thankful kiss placed on his neck Natalie pulled away and continued, "Mar was still sleeping the next day, so while she was sleeping I went to go and check on them ya know, to see how they were doing and to change their bandages and whatnot." She said to him and then laughed dryly. "God I went in and they were on me like a moth to a flame, thankfully I was smart enough from being taught by you and Merle to have brought my knife with me. I had to kill them Daryl," Natalie said emotionally as a few tears managed to escape from her eyes. "I killed my own grandparents. After that happened I knew that me and Marlie had to get out there, but it was mostly because I couldn't stand to be where I basically murdered my grandparents."

The moment those last few words left Natalie's mouth Daryl darted forwards, cupped her face and kissed her heatedly and tangled his hand into her hair as he pulled her closer to him. He needed to show Natalie that everything was okay but he had no words to tell her so he did the next best thing, he kissed her.

Pulling away reluctantly Daryl looked into Natalie's eyes intently, "Natalie you didn't kill ya grandparents. You know that don't you?" he asked her.

At that Natalie scoffed, "Daryl I was in the room with them and killed them." She told him.

"I didn't marry no stupid girl Natalie," Daryl said to her fiercely but softly. "Ya know they were gone long before ya went into their room, they were gone the moment they were bit." He told her. "There was no savin' them Natalie, the only good and decent thing to have done to them was to put 'em outta their misery and that's exactly what ya did. Ya ended it so that they couldn't hurt no one else and sent them to their heaven that they believe in. You did right by them."

It was funny, while Natalie could kill all the other Walkers that had tried to eat her and her daughter without any problems but the moment her own family became infected and bit it was a whole different story – it was somehow different having to kill your own family who you've known your whole life compared to a complete stranger that you've never met before.

"We had to leave on foot after that," Natalie said beginning once again. "Some kids stole our car while we had been holed up in the hotel; we only had a few of our supplies with us in the hotel room, so we were at a slight disadvantage." She said to him. "We kept to the back roads and the woods to travel; I figured that it would be safer on the less populated roads since the Biters/Walkers would be attracted to all of the noise that people would be making. Any abandoned cars that we came across I pilfered to see if they had anything useful; weapons, canned food, camping gear or anything that we could use to survive with but not many did really." She said with a shake of her head. "After walking for the better part of a day we managed to get to a bit bigger of a town; we stopped at the local grocery store to get some food and first aid supplies and took out the few Walkers that were in there and figured the local pawn store might have a knife or two that would be a bit more useful than the one I had and to get Marlie a small knife so she could protect herself if she needed to. No way in hell I was letting Marlie be out in this world without some kind of weapon."

Daryl shifted a bit and watched Natalie, taking in every facial expression and movement she made – anything that would hint that she was going to start breaking down from what she was telling him.

"We looked a few blocks into town hoping to find a car that we could use, or any sort of transportation but a majority of the cars were trashed or barely had any gas in them and would have barely gotten us to the outskirts of town." Natalie said with a shrug of her shoulders. "At that moment in time I would have taken a two speed bike, even if it was bright pink and covered in princess stickers." She admitted with a disgusted look on her face to which Daryl gave a bark of laughter.

Daryl could just imagine his wife, who only owned two pink things since he's met her (they were plaid so it was okay), would have given in for a pink pop princess bike. He bet that she would have been glaring down at the bike the whole time that she was riding it.

Giving her husband a dark look for laughing Natalie continued with her story, "For about two or three days we traveled like that, only going on the back roads, staying away from the high way and traveling through the woods as well and sleeping up in the tree tops," she said with a grin. "I guess all of my recreational tree climbing training came in handy for something useful." She admitted. "It wasn't comfortable or easy, and it was terrifying most of the time and I barely ever slept. I was too afraid that one of us would fall out of the trees or a bunch of growling Biters would be on us like pooh bear to honey."

Natalie paused a moment and readjusted her seat on the tree log, "On the third day a small group of people found us and called up to us, I don't know if they had been watching us for a few days or just spotted me and Marlie up in the tree sleeping." She told him and shrugged. "But they saw us and saw that we barely had anything but the clothes on our back and one bag of supplies if that even."

**Arizona**

**It's been three days since this hell started, three days and all Natalie was trying to do now was make sure herself and Marlie lived to see the next day. They were up in the treetops of some woods that they were travelling through, they've taken to sleeping in the tree's when the sun started to go down – being out in the woods at night with Biters roaming all over the place was not the smartest thing to do. And Natalie was not going to do something stupid, that was not going to get her back to her husband. **

"**Mama?" Marlie asked in a scared tone of voice as she huddled as close to her mom as she could. "I wanna go back home, I want daddy. I don't like them monsters…they ates great gramsy and grampy." She said tearing up a bit. "I wanna go home and I want dad to make all the monsters go away forever and ever." She said.**

**Hearing that Natalie wrapped her arms around her crying daughter and gently kissed her on the forehead soothingly, "I know Marlie, I want to go back home too and I want to see daddy but all this shit happened and it's going to be a lot harder than before to get back home." She said to her sadly. "But I promise you this, I will be with you no matter what I will protect you just as good as daddy does. Okay?" she said to her. "You and me are going to make it back home to Georgia and we are gonna find daddy." **

**Before Marlie was able to respond to that there was a loud and very deep sounding male voice calling up to where Natalie and Marlie were sitting at.**

"**Hey!" a man yelled up at them. "You two girls doing all right up there?"**

**Glancing over the tree branch Natalie saw that there was a small group of people below her and her daughter; there was a tall man who looked to be at least six feet tall if not more and he had reddish/brown hair and a tattoo on his neck. And then there were two women one of whom had short cropped brown hair and looked to be in her mid-thirties and then the other was at the most twenty-one or two years old with red, brown and blonde layered hair. **

"**We're fine," Natalie said down to them and gave a narrowed look. "Try and be quiet will you, we don't need any of those damn things hearing you." She whisper/yelled down at them.**

"**Sorry about that," The man said a bit quieter but grinned nonetheless.**

**Natalie gave him a grim look, "Okay then," she said and hoped that they would leave her and Marlie alone soon. "We're doing fine. You can leave now." She said to them bluntly. **

**If it would have been any other day in the normal world Natalie would have never said that to a complete stranger but this new world wasn't safe, and better to be safe than sorry…..being sorry would end up with you being dead. **

**The man looked up at Natalie and Marlie with a raised brow, "Are ya sure sweetheart?" he asked. "Most people that ya meet that say they are doin' fine don't usually sleep up in tree's, at least not from my experience they don't." he said to her. "Why don't ya come on down and talk with us." He suggested. **

"**Don't call me sweetheart," Natalie growled. "And why should I come down and talk with you?" she asked carefully, Natalie would like to trust the guy but she's read enough books and seen plenty of movies to know that damn near every person in an apocalyptic world has an ulterior motive and aren't nearly as nice as they make themselves out to be. **

"**Sorry about that," the man said in reference to the endearment. "I'm just trying to do my best to help out people, the world may have gone to hell but that doesn't mean we all lost our manners and our sense of what is right and wrong." he said up to her. "I'm Todd. My group and I have a small set up about a ten or fifteen minute walk from here. We have food, water, weapons to protect ourselves and even have a sort of security going on – we walk the perimeter and take out any of those damn dead things that get too close to our camp." He said to her. "There's other women too, so you will be safe." He said to her. **

**For a few moments Natalie contemplated her options, staying up in a tree with little to no supplies whatsoever to protect herself and her daughter from the Biters or go with this Todd guy and the two women that were with them to this supposed camp. . . . a camp that had better protection, more food and were just all around better off than they were. It was safe to say that Natalie's choices were pretty limited.**

"**Okay fine," Natalie said looking down at Todd. "We'll come down but if you guys do anything to either me or my daughter you will regret it." She threatened them menacingly, or rather as menacingly as she could but considering the lack of sleep that she's been getting it didn't have her usual fierceness behind it. **

**The man laughed at that, "I guess that's fair." He said to her. **

**Quickly grabbing the Swiss gear backpack that had their things in it and putting it on, Natalie then used the rope that she had managed to find in one of the cars and tied it around her in a makeshift harness and then had Marlie hang onto her around the neck and then propelled them down to the base of the tree where this Todd guy and the two women were waiting for them at. **

"**Bet that's a handy skill to have nowadays," Todd said to her. **

"**At times it is," Natalie said with a shrug and kept a good distance away from them, she didn't trust them and didn't know them and their offer sounded too good to be true. "Now who the hell are you all?" she asked with a narrowed look on her face. **

**Todd grinned at them in a friendly manner, "I'm Todd Fisher, I used to be a personal trainer for the Arizona Cardinals." He said sounding a tad bit egotistical when he told her that.**

**Natalie gave an unimpressed roll of her eyes but gave him an acknowledging nod and then looked over at the two women expectantly. "Who are you two?" she asked with a softer tone of voice, she trusted the women a bit more than Todd. **

**Before either of the women was able to answer Natalie's question Todd introduced them, "This is Rhonda Crawford and Kelsey Gorman. I ran into them when all this shit went on, and we've been travelling together ever since and started up our own little camp which you and your daughter are more than welcome to join." He said not letting either of the girls get a word in edge wise. **

"**Mama?" Marlie whispered up to her mom who she was hiding behind. "Who are those people?" she asked. "They aren't goin' to be eatin' at us are they?" she asked.**

**At that Natalie couldn't help but laugh a bit, "Nah they ain't gonna eat us." She said down to her and then looked at Todd, Rhonda and Kelsey. "You said that you have a group? There are both men and women right?" she asked. "Not just these two?" she questioned, she needed to make sure that this was the real deal before she agreed. **

**Todd nodded once again, "Yeah, we got women from the ages of around sixteen or seventeen to about fifty or older. It's a real nice set up that we have going on, you and your daughter would do great there. No one will mess with you guys and we definitely won't be letting any of them monsters get you." He said and gave a playful wink to Marlie who gave a small giggle. **

"**What's the catch?" Natalie asked as she crossed her arms under her chest and raised a brow at the much taller man.**

**He raised his hands in peace, "There isn't one, all we ask is that you help around and do your part to make sure what we have going on runs smoothly. Simple as that." He told her. "We're set up in a mobile home park, it's no Hilton but we all get our own spaces and we're right by a small river and there's a strip mall just up the road and woods so that we can hunt…..or at least try and hunt. No one in camp can really hunt all that well to tell the truth." He said to her.**

"**So you will come?" the younger girl, Kelsey asked hopefully.**

**After about a few seconds of debating with herself Natalie gave a decisive nod, "I guess so. Me and Mar can't keep on sleeping up in tree's. Not to mention it hurts like a bitch." She said with a wince and rubbed at her sore back. **

"**What's your name?" Rhonda asked. "We introduced ourselves it would only be right if you did the same." She responded. **

"**I'm Natalie Dixon and this is my daughter Marlie." **

Once Natalie finished telling Daryl how she had met up with her first group of people in Arizona she gave a small sigh and ran her hands through her hair and pushed the majority of it over one shoulder, she really should have asked Amy or Andrea if they had a hair tie….well Amy since Andrea isn't exactly her biggest fan right now – stupid bitch.

"In the beginning of everything I was more trusting of strangers and random people that I met," Natalie said shaking her head. "They weren't bad people, well not really. There were a few bad apples in the group but for the most part they were all pretty nice and welcoming to me and Marlie." She told her. "But no one can be that nice and accepting all of time, not even Mother Teresa." She said.

Daryl looked at his wife, "They do somethin' to you and Marlie?" he asked with a dark look on his face. "They didn't hit you or nothin' like that did they?" he asked.

Immediately Natalie shook her head at that question, "No, no way. There was no way I would let them do anything like that, at least not without me retaliating back at them and you know I would have been bragging about that by now." She said with a cheeky grin on her face.

"What went on then?" he asked as he rubbed at the back of his neck and flicked away some dirt that was crusted on there from who knows when.

Natalie gave a small squeeze to Daryl's hand before continuing, "The first day was great; we had a relatively safe place to sleep that wasn't in a tree, we had food that wasn't bland, other people that would be able to help us and we felt safe." She said with a small smile at that first night of sleep in that camp, sleep that she and Marlie had so desperately needed at the time. "The next day came and me and Marlie asked the Todd guy what we could do to help and he sent us to help some of the women, I didn't mind because I like to cook and I could sew pretty okay but I told him I was a pretty good shot with my gun and could do a half ass hunting job – thank god you and Merle dragged me with you two all of the time. I would be shit out of luck if you hadn't," she said to him off hand which made Daryl give a flicker of a smile. "But Todd and a few of the other guys immediately said no and wouldn't give me a gun to help them with the perimeter, he wouldn't let me go out and help with taking out the few Walkers that got too close to camp and he definitely wouldn't let me help with hunting," she said with a scoff and then crossed her arms in annoyance.

Daryl couldn't help but smirk a bit at how much his wife just imitated a spoiled thirteen year old girl whose parents took away her cell phone, and the tone of voice she used when she said the last bit just sealed the deal.

"They didn't know what they was talkin' about," Daryl said as he gently wrapped a finger around one of her stray curly hairs and then pushed it behind her pierced ear. "You may not be the best at huntin' and you definitely ain't nowhere near the huntin' level that me and Merle are at." He said and opened his mouth to say more but Natalie cut him off.

Pulling away from Daryl a bit Natalie gave him an annoyed look, "Gee thanks Daryl, that's just what your wife wanted to hear." She told him sarcastically and gave him a dry look.

At that Daryl rolled his eyes, "I wasn't done yet woman, are ya gonna let me finish what I was gonna say to you or what?" he asked her to which Natalie sheepishly nodded at him. "Just because ya ain't no hunters like me and Merle who've been doin' it since we was little kids and you only just started six or seven years ago don't mean that ya ain't good for the level ya are at. You learn fast, you listen even when we think ya aren't and you are a survivor. No matter what any of them assholes could have done for hunting you would have been better, no doubt in my mind." He said to her convincingly and leaned in for a kiss but Natalie pushed him away and gave him a half amused look.

"Just FYI that was half somewhat insulting but the majority of it was complimenting me so I'm letting my vanity win and taking it as a compliment," Natalie said to him with a small smile on her face. "But if I was any other kind of woman you would have gotten a good yelling for half of the shit you said, it's a good thing I know you so well and am used to your unusual ways." She said to him.

Daryl pulled her closer and gave her a kiss on the lips, "If you were anyone else you wouldn't be my wife, sounds like a miserable life to me." He stated. "Good thing ya are mine to have and to do unmentionable things with."

That made Natalie grin, some girls may take offense to being a possession and guys saying that the girl is theirs and their alone but Natalie loved to hear Daryl say that to her it made her feel all tingly inside. For the most part Natalie was a strong and independent woman but she did let her girlie parts take over once in a while and her girlie parts went on hyper drive when Daryl calls her his.

"Stop saying shit like that," Natalie half-heartedly complained as she pushed playfully at Daryl's chest. "It's making me want to do naughty things to you." She said and closed her eyes for a moment so that she could try and stop thinking about all of the nasty things she wanted to do with Daryl in the woods. "Okay," Natalie said opening her eyes back up once again. "We were there for a few days when the looks started happening, they were mostly directed at me but a few of the guys were giving Marlie looks and I definitely did not like that. I didn't ever let that girl out of my sight. I trusted these people at first but now I see that I made a mistake. But we needed them at the moment and in order for me and Marlie to survive we needed to stay with them for a while longer….or at least until I could figure out a plan that would allow us to survive in the new world."

Daryl opened his mouth to say something but Natalie held her hand up to him and shook her head, silently telling him to wait until she finished.

"One day, maybe four or five days into staying with this group me and Marlie were helping a few of them women in camp – we were sewing up some of the ragged clothes to make blankets and other useful things that we could use the destroyed clothes for." Natalie said with a shrug as she wringed her hands. "I sent Marlie to go and get some of the extra sewing stuff that I had stored where we were sleeping. She was gone for ten minutes when it should have taken her at the most maybe five or ten, so I looked up from where I was sitting and talking with the other women. Not even fifteen feet away from me what Todd, he was talking down to Marlie and was grabbing her arm roughly." She said and got a dark look on her face at that memory. "Marlie was trying to get away but he wouldn't let her go, but he bent down to her height and said something into her ear and then Marlie's whole demeanor changed. She was thrashing against him trying her damndest to get away and then Todd the damn asshole, he gripped her arm tighter which made Marlie cry out in pain and that was the last straw."

Hearing what happened to his daughter at that first camp made Daryl clench his fists until knuckles turned white from how tightly he was gripping, no one was allowed to touch his daughter or wife in any harmful way and live to tell the tale. He would hunt them down and make them pay one way or another. Daryl protected his family even if it meant that he wouldn't make it, as long as Natalie and Marlie lived that was all that he cared for.

"You better have set that assholes mind straight and let 'em know that it ain't right to do what he did," Daryl all but growled out. "I ain't against travelling all the way to Arizona and huntin' him down just so that I can teach 'im a lesson." He said in a dead serious tone of a voice.

Natalie gave a soft smiel at that and began to tell him what happened after that.

**Arizona**

**The moment that Natalie saw Todd had her crying daughter's arm gripped tightly in his much larger and quite strong hand she dropped what she was doing, strode past the women who were looking between Natalie and Todd worriedly but she ignored them and instead kept on walking determinedly towards her target. **

"**What the fuck Todd!" Natalie yelled as she pushed the six foot plus man as hard as she could which resulted in him letting go of her daughters arm. "What in the hell is wrong with you?"**

**Todd looked at Natalie shocked that such a small, five foot something woman had the strength to push a former personal trainer as hard as she did and make him stumble back even. **

"**What?" he asked dumbly and looked at Natalie as if nothing was wrong with the situation that they were in.**

**When he spoke those words Natalie's eyes darkened just that much more and she put on the bitch face, the face she used when someone did something that she absolutely hated and the face she used when she was about to give someone a piece of her mind. **

"**You Todd, what in the hell is wrong with you?" she asked as she gently pushed her daughter behind her so that Todd couldn't get at her anymore. "You grab my daughters arm, you make her cry and you grabbed her arm hard enough that more than likely she will have bruises tomorrow morning and you ask me 'what' as if you didn't do anything wrong." She said with her hands on her hips. "Do you not have enough sense in that brain to know that when a child cries out in pain that you let them go." **

**Hearing that Todd narrowed his eyes at Marlie before looking back at Natalie, "I wasn't trying to hurt her at all, we were just having a conversation about something that's all and we had a misunderstanding I guess." He said and then turned his sugary sweet smile onto Marlie but Natalie could read between the lines, he was silently telling her to lie for him. "Weren't we sweetheart?" **

**Not even answering Marlie clung on tighter to the back of her mother's shirt in fear, she was scared of what Todd was going to do or say to her…she was afraid that he would follow through with is promise. He said that he would make sure that she and her mama didn't ever find her daddy, that Todd was going to make her mama forget all about her daddy and then Todd would become her new daddy. Marlie didn't want that, she did not want that at all. **

**Just as Todd was about to bend down to Marlie's height and talk to her once again Natalie stepped up in Todd's space and looked up at him with a heated glare on her face. "You don't ever look at Marlie again, you don't speak to her, you don't touch her, and you don't even breathe near her." she said to him fiercely. "I do not allow abusive and violent men to touch or be near her. Do you understand me?" she asked. **

"**What are you going to do to me?" Todd asked with a grin. "Kick me, you are barely five foot three or four, and I seriously doubt you could take me in a fight." He said to her. "I was a personal trainer, I got a lot of muscle." He said ot her. **

**At that Natalie raised her brow at him, "I am a mother, a mother who is protecting her young daughter whom you scared. I can become a cruel and vicious bitch when I want to be Todd." She said in an eerily calm voice. "Plus my brother in law was in the army, he taught me a thing or two." She said and then looked over at her daughter. "Come on Marlie let's get away from this ass." **

**Turning around to grab her daughters hand and to walk back over to where the women were at, who were staring at the feud that was going on between Natalie and Todd but before Natalie was even able to take a step Todd grabbed her arm harshly and turned her to look at him.**

"**You don't talk to me like that," Todd said, a twisted look coming on his face, a far cry from the man that Natalie had met that first night. "I took you in, let you come to this place and accepted you and your daughter and gave you food, shelter and protection." He stated with anger in his voice. "You better watch yourself." **

**Unable to stop herself Natalie gave a short laugh, "Good luck with that Todd," she said to him with unwavering eyes that slightly freaked him out, the girl may be a small thing but she was intense. "You don't scare me, my husband is scarier than you and even when he gets all pissy I don't even bat an eye so trust me I can take anything you throw at me." She said and then grabbed her daughters hand in her own. "Me and Mar, we are out of here. We are gonna take the few things we own and make our way towards Georgia which was our original plan. You doing what you did to my daughter, grabbing her and scaring her was across the line and I am not putting up with that. So before you do something really stupid we're gonna get the hell outta here." **

**Todd clenched his fists but controlled his anger, "Fine, leave see what I care. I doubt you'll be able to last all that long out there by yourself with your your daughter." He said to her cruelly. "The zombies are gonna get at you, you and your daughter will get bit and be turned into those dead things. You'll be wishing you would have listened to me and not pissed me off." **

"**Doubt it." Natalie said to him simply. "We'll be gone by morning." She said to him.**

When Natalie finished telling Daryl the story of how they ended up leaving their first group Daryl had to concentrate on his breathing to calm him down, knowing that someone grabbed is daughter pissed him off but hearing the details about it made him just that much more angry.

"Did the fucker do any serious damage?" Daryl asked in a restrained calm voice, he was trying to not sound angry but from the look on his wife's face he knew he failed in that aspect. "Didn't break nothin' or sprain her wrist or some shit like that did he?"

In response to that Natalie shook her head which made Daryl give a sigh of relief at that fact, "No," Natalie stated. "He wasn't able to do much damage other than giving her a nasty bruise for a few days that was tender for a while, I ran over to them before he could do much else to her. Thank the Lord." She said, she may not be all that religious really and she really only associated with being spiritual but Daryl got her in the habit of saying things like that – she figured it was a southern thing or maybe it was just a Daryl thing…who knows.

For a few moments neither said anything, both of them were enjoying the small break from Natalie telling what happened to her and Marlie while they were trying to make their way to Georgia.

"There's more ain't there?" Daryl asked finally, breaking the comfortable silence.

Pursing her lips for a moment Natalie let out a sigh and nodded, "Yeah." She said hesitantly.

Daryl looked at his wife expectantly but after a few seconds of her saying nothing and not elaborating her questioned her, "Are ya gonna tell me what happened or have me guessin' then?"

"Impatient much?" Natalie asked but continued on with her story. "That night after me and Marlie got done helping the other women out, we started packing our shit up and whatnot ya know. Some of the women who I got close to over the few days we were in camp gave us a few things – supplies to get us by until we could scrounge some more up or got to the next town," she said to him with a small smile on her face, Rhonda and Kelsey were the two girls that she liked and missed the most, they were really down to earth. "Todd wanted us out so bad that he even convinced one of the younger guys to drive us out to one of the roads, guess it was the only nice last thing he wanted to do for us. Maybe he felt bad," she said with an uncaring shrug. "But we were near our bedding area when we heard the first scream, got it was such a terrifying and gut wrenching scream. I never heard anything like it before. I grabbed Marlie's hand and held tightly and then looked and saw something I hope to never see again." She said and gave a sharp shake of her head.

Daryl looked at his wife in concern, "What Nat?" he asked. "What happened? Was it Walkers?" he asked.

Taking a deep breath Natalie looked at Daryl and nodded, "TI was walkers but it was more than just a group of them, it was like a pack…a…a horde of Walkers coming towards us." She said and gave him a pained grimace. "They were at the other end of camp but they were coming fast and it would be only moments before they got to where we were at, so I only have a few moments to make a choice that would save mine and Marlie's lives." She said and stopped.

Hearing about the danger that Natalie and Marlie had been in those first few weeks had Daryl on edge, god he needed to realize some of this tension and anger over everything that happened to him and he knew that what Natalie was telling him now wasn't even the worst of it yet. But the thought of a horde, an actual horde being in the same camp as his wife and daughter was a terrifying reality, being confronted with a horde was something that more than likely would happen again and Daryl knew that realistically there was nothing he could do to keep that from happening. What he could do though was be there to make sure that his wife and daughter survived another one, to be sure that they were safe and protected.

"Me and Mar weren't that far away from where some of the cars were parked at," Natalie said, starting up again. "While everyone was running around panicking and grabbing any and every weapon that they could get their hands on me and Marlie made our way over to a really old and beat up jeep and got in the back seat. There was a lot of junk in the backseat; some ripped up blankets, books, a tarp, clothes and just odds and ends. I used the junk to cover ourselves and keep us hidden from any Walkers that might look in the Jeep." She explained to him. "It may have been terrible of me to hide while everyone was fighting off the Walkers but there were too many for us to be able to take and win, one way or another most of everyone in camp was going to end up bit, dead and eaten. No one would have made it out of there with the way they reacted to the horde." She stated.

"God it was terrible," Natalie said with a sad shake of her head. "Having to listen to the attack, to all of the people being attacked, being eaten and screaming in terror. It was terrible," she said to him. "I held Marlie close to me and covered her ears with my hands hoping to muffle the sounds but she heard what happened, I thought me having to kill my own grandparents was terrible when they turned but this….this was so much worse and on a whole different scale. I could hear every scream, I could hear them begging to god to not let them die, I heard the Walkers growling and hissing, I could hear the flesh being torn from people's bodies. It was one of the worst experiences of my life Daryl."

With that said Natalie looked at Daryl with such pained filled eyes that even Daryl himself had to close his eyes to regain himself, opening them back up he still saw that Natalie was still looking at him and waiting for a reaction. It was as if she expected him to hate her or be disgusted because she hid and saved her and Marlie's hides from being Walker food.

"You're alive Nat, you and Marlie are alive." Daryl said as he cupped Natalie's face and touched their noses to one and another. "I know it was a shitty thing to see and hear, and that it's terrible that those people died in that way but all I care is that ya and our daughter are alive. It may be selfish and cold but all I want is the two of you alive. Ain't nobody else matter to me but you two." He said to her.

Natalie breathed in deeply and just took in Daryl's natural scent, woods, leather and nature. "I know but I wanted so badly to help them, to save them but I couldn't. I didn't even like half of them but no one deserves to die that way or to become one of those things." She told him. "And Rhonda and Kelsey I may have only known them a few days but I liked them, they were nice and I was even going to offer bring them with me. I don't think they wanted to be there really and all they really needed was someone to push them in the right direction." She said to her husband sadly as she looked at his blue eyes, eyes that always seemed to calm her down.

Daryl gave a silent sigh at that comment, he was sympathetic towards his wife for what happened to the two women she connected with at that camp and hates that the worlds is the way it is now – that any person you could become friends with has the possibility of getting attacked and becoming one of the walking dead.

"I'm sorry ya lost your friends," Daryl said quietly as he gently combed his fingers through her messy curly hair.

At that Natalie pulled a bit away from him, "I only knew them a few days." She said trying to be logical about the whole situation but Natalie liked Kelsey and Rhonda.

"But ya still liked 'em." Daryl pointed out.

Smiling to herself Natalie nodded, "I did." She said to him.

Deciding to change the subject away from her lost friends Daryl went back to his original sitting position, being so close and not being able to take Natalie's clothes off was really taking its toll on him. It's best to get through what they needed to talk about before he lost control of his need and just went at it with Natalie right then and there. Neither would mind it all that much but they seriously needed to finish their talk.

"You two got outta there eventuayl though." Daryl stated.

Natalie nodded, "Yeah, I waited almost an hour before I was sure that the horde had passed by and weren;t in hearing distance any longer." She explained to him. "I told Marlie to stay in the jeep and to stay under the covers until I said so. I got out and quickly grabbed our bags of supplies and then grabbed anything salvageable but I almost couldn't stomach it with all of the tore up bodies, not to mention we needed to get out of there before any of them came back to life." She stated with grimace. "Do you remember the time that I told Merle that him teaching me how to hot wire a car wouldn't come in handy?" she asked to which Daryl gave a nod. "Yeah…I was wrong. I had to hotwire the jeep to get out of there, the keys weren't anywhere in the jeep and we didn't have the time to look through everything in camp. Especially not after what happened."

Hearing that Daryl gave a small chuckle, "I guess Merle's illegal tendencies did come to use." He told her.

Giving a soft smile Natalie nodded, "I guess so." She said and then looked at Daryl. "Once I got the car started up I just drove, I drove for hours just trying to get as far away from there as I possibly could. We needed to leave and leave right then and there." She said to him. "I thought we had already spent too much time in Arizona when we could have been at least a state or two over and making our way to you." She told him.

"Hey you made it to me," Daryl said to her. "We are a family again, ain't no questions about that." He stated. "I love you, I love Marlie and I am relieved that we are finally back together and ain't gotta worry about bein' separated anymore." He told her seriously. "Now come on, tell me what happened after that."

Giving a sigh Natalie gathered up all the courage that she had and started to tell Daryl about the next part of her journey of trying to get herself and Marlie to Georgia so that they could find him, but the next half wasn't nearly as nice sounding as the first half had been. This was the part where she was afraid that Daryl was going to really lose the hold that he had on his anger – she knew without a doubt some of the foliage of the forest around them was going to be feeling the anger of a Dixon.

A/N: That was part one, the next part should be up in the next couple of days. I didnt want to make too long of a chapter for you guys. That would just be exhausting.

Quote: Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself.

Walter Anderson

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children.

Jessica Lange


	12. Chapter 12: Part two

Dislcaimer: I do not own the walking dead, just the original characters that i put in here and my paintings. thats about it.

A/N: I know its been forever since i've updated, i am sorry my people. i love you all. Smooches. I've been busy with work, and then enjoying the nice summer heat which i've missed. And yeah that's all i got really. Well here's the newest chapter please enjoy and REVIEW! :)

Chapter twelve

About twenty minutes passed before either Natalie or Daryl decided to break the silence that had settled between them, Daryl was thinking over everything that Natalie had just told him and Natalie was just letting her mind rest and trying to think of the best way to word the next few events that she had to tell her husband.

"Nat," Daryl started in his soothing but gruff like voice. "You know I love ya woman, the best thing that ever happened to me was when me and Merle walked into that Deli you worked at." He said to her as he reached up and pushed back some of her messy curly hair so that it wasn't hiding her face from his view. "Ya can't stay quiet no more Natalie. I need you to keep on tellin' me what happened to you and Mar. I love you and I'm your husband, part of that marriage thing was being here for ya through the good and the bad. I ain't about to judge ya for anything that you had to do. I ain't like that, you know me better than that.

When Daryl said that Natalie have a small hint of a smile, a smile that made her look like a young girl again. "You, Daryl." Natalie said as she looked away from the dalligrass she had been picking at and then up at Daryl. "Are an impatient man." She said to him with a shake of her head.

Daryl gave her a grin that was reserved just for her and leaned a bit closer and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead before resuming his previous position, "Well a certain wife of mine has been sittin' there quiet for damn near twenty minutes. I was bound to get impatient." He told her teasingly before he took a deep breath and looking into her dark eyes. "Natalie I need to know what happened, I don't wanna push you to say anything but I need to know everything that happened to you and Marlie while we were away from each other."

Over the years of being with Natalie Daryl has leaned to not push her too hard to talk about something she didn't want to but this….this was something completely different. This was about the safety of Natalie and Marlie, and no matter what he was going to find out every single detail that happened to them. No matter how bad and terrible it was, he was going to know what happened. It would be good for Natalie to finally talk to someone about what happened and it would be good for Daryl's peace of mind.

"Okay," Natalie said to him.

So with a nod Natalie tossed the dalligrass weed that she had been toying with away from her and shifted on the log so that she was sitting cross legged across from Daryl rather than straddling the log that they were sitting on. . . . though if given the choice Natalie would rather be straddling Daryl but that excitement would have to be saved until they finished talking.

Without a word said Daryl gently laid his free hand on Natalie's knee and started to rub it soothingly and supportively, silently telling Natalie that he was there for her and was her support.

"After me and Mar hotwired the truck and got the hell out of that camp we tried to stay towards small towns, too big of ones would have had more Walkers than we could deal with and I wasn't about to take a chance with the bigger towns unless I absolutely had to." Natalie started as she looked into Daryl's intense blue eyes, blue that always calmed her nerves down. "We had a few supplies that we scavenged off of a few abandoned cars, it wasn't all that much but it had to do for the time being. I had to figure out how to syphon gas, half of the gas stations we passed were either claimed by ass holes who didn't want to share or were completely drained. So I learned fast how to syphon gas, and let me tell you that was not a fun experience." She said with a disgusted look on her face and shook her head. "It took a few trial and errors before I finally figured out how to do it without getting too much of the taste of gas in my mouth."

Hearing that Daryl did his best to hide his amused grin but knew he failed at that from the dark look that his wife had sent him.

Rolling her eyes at Daryl and his reaction to her trying to syphon gas she went on with what she was saying, "We ended up in this town called Clifton which wasn't too far from the Arizona border, and the only reason I remembered the name was because it reminded me of Clifford the Big Red Dog and when Marlie used to have us read those at least three or four times a night." She said which made both her and Daryl laugh a bit at the memory.

"Was it safe?" Daryl asked curiously as he cocked his ear towards the woods, he could have sworn he heard something but he didn't hear any groaning or moaning so he was guessing it was more than likely an animal.

Natalie gave a small shrug, "For the most part it was I suppose, we didn't stay there all that long to tell the truth." She told him and subconsciously began to pick at the bark of the log that she was sitting on. "We stopped at a local store to get some things to eat and other basics that we would need that would let us to get on our way, but the truck we were using, well it had seen better days and whosevers it was last did not take care of it so we needed to find a new car in that town or else we would more than likely break down before we even made it to the next state." She said to him. "Man there was a nice ass classic 1970 charger in one of the abandoned houses, which I was so close to taking but I knew that I realistically couldn't use it. I needed something bigger that would fit more supplies especially if me and Mar were going to be on the road for who knows how long." She said with a devastated sigh at the loss of the car.

"You and your classic muscle cars," Daryl said with an amused shake of his head at his wife, you would think with her being a girl and all that she would be into shoes and dresses and jewelry but no Daryl got the girl that liked classic muscle cars and tattoos not that he was complaining. "Oddest woman I know."

Hearing that Natalie grinned up at him, "Would you rather I gush at you every time I see a diamond and demand you buy it for me even though it cost at least a thousand dollars and not let you bring dead animals in the house to skin and eat?" she questioned with a raised brow. "Because most normal woman wouldn't let your hunting tendencies fly." She pointed out to him.

Daryl shook his head, "Nah, I think I'll keep ya the way ya are." He said to her with a smirk on his face.

"That best be your answer," Natalie said to him before she shook her head at their odd antics and went on with what she was saying. "Anywho," she stated. "We were looking in all of these abandoned homes and half them have shit cars, but finally this dinky ass house that I guess was owned by an older guy had the perfect car. A van and we were even lucky enough to have keys to go with it so I don't have to fuck around with trying to hotwire it, I'm no Merle so I can't hotwire a car in three seconds flat." She said with a shrug.

"Not a bad thing, not being like Merle," Daryl stated to which Natalie gave a small nod of agreement, Merle had his good days and he had his bad days where he acted like even more of an asshole then he usually was.

"Me and Marlie looked through the house before we decided to leave," Natalie said to him as she cracked her neck. "See if there was anything worth taking and that we could use; the place looked as if no one bothered to take any supplies with them. The cupboards were full, there were blankets and shit in the closets and tools in the garage." She said with a half-smile on her face. "It was like the motherload to us especially considering we had basically nothing."

"A savin' grace." Daryl commented.

At that Natalie nodded vigorously, "Yeah, if ever I would have started to believe in god and his miracles, right then and there was it." She told him seriously. "We gathered what supplies we needed and were able to take and packed them up into the van and looked around for some weapons but the most the guy who lived there had were a few fishing rods and a flaying knife or a steak knife. Nothing that would do all that much damage." She said to him. "We were about to get in the van and head on out and get on the road, I wanted to try and cross over to New Mexico before it got too late but then I heard it." She stated.

Daryl knew what it was that Natalie heard, the tell-tale signs of Walkers.

"There were Walkers outside of the house," Natalie said to him. "I barely opened the garage door and there were at least five or six Walkers surrounding the van that me and Mar were just planning on getting in. The damn fuckers," Natalie said with a scowl which made her look a lot more like her husband. "Me and Mar could have been in there and making our way out of town but they decided to show up. We were probably the only living thing in that town, the Walkers are like Sharks they can smell the living a mile away." She said with a shake of her head. "So we ended up staying the night there, but like I said the place was pretty stocked up so we ate one good meal…something that we hadn't had in a while even when we were with that first group."

For a moment Natalie paused and picked a dandelion that was besides the log and brought it up to her face and took a whiff of it and took on a serene smile on her face, a smile that Daryl wished he was able to keep there all of the time but with Walkers roaming around it was hard to do but he would do his damndest to try.

Reaching out towards his wife Daryl grabbed the flower and then stuck it behind her ear and gently caressed her face.

"Thanks," Natalie said softly and gave a small smile; you gotta enjoy the small things in life. "We managed to leave the next day, there were only a few stragglers still around but I managed to take them out without any problems. After that me and Marlie got in our new van and headed out of town and out of state. There was barely a half of a tank of gas in the van but we hoped to be able to at least make it a bit of a ways into New Mexico.

"Over the next few days we did what we had been doing in New Mexico," Natalie began once again. "We stuck to the smaller towns, syphoned what gas we could from the abandoned cars and just tried to make our way to you." She said and gave a loving smile to Daryl. "But we could only stick to the smaller towns for so long before it came obvious that they had nothing much to offer anymore, if we were going to be able to make it across the lower southern states and get to Georgia we were going to need more supplies. Better supplies and weapons."

For a moment Daryl stared at Natalie before he commented on her statement, "You and Marlie went into one of the bigger cities of New Mexico with basically no weapons?" he questioned unhappily at that fact.

Hearing his tone of voice Natalie raised her brows at her husband, "We may be female but we are not helpless Daryl, you know that for a fact." She said to him. "Not like we had much of a choice either, we needed some medical stuff, better weapons and camping supplies. The small towns don't have those kind of things." She said with a shrug.

"I ain't questionin' if you are capable or not," Daryl said to her placatingly. "Just sayin' I ain't happy that ya had to do so alone when Walkers could be at ya at any moment." He explained to her.

Natalie gave him an unbelieving look, "Right." She said with a halfhearted nod. "As I was saying, we went to one of the bigger towns, Rio Rancho. It was on our way up to Oklahoma." She explained to him. "We found a decent hotel that we could stay the night at, it was one that seemed ot barely have many Walkers wandering in and around it, once we. . . . well I had taken care of the walkers we just stayed inside, ate a bit of food and crashed. The plan was to get up early the next morning and raid the closest medical place that we could find be it a pharmacy or a small clinic – I really wasn't picky at the time, as long as we could get some medical shit. I knew that once me and Marlie found you and Merle we would definitely be needing that stuff, especially with Merle's drug habit." She said with a scoff and shook her head, Natalie really hoped that someday soon Merle would get a smack in the face and realize that he's gonna get himself killed from his drug habit and hopefully quit.

"Ya found a place and were able to get in though," Daryl stated, from what he saw of the supplies that Natalie had in her van it was as if she robbed a world renowned hospital or something along those lines.

Natalie nodded at that, "Yeah, we had to crawl in through a broken window but we were able to get in. Thank god hospitals have signs in the hallways," she said with a thankful look on her face. "All hospitals are so different. I never know where the hell anything is, but after a few twist and turns and taking a few Walkers down me and Marlie made it to where they kept the good stuff. Grabbed anything in sight really. I knew what a few of the drugs were used for and made sure to grab ones for pain and infections but otherwise I was like fuck it, take everything. Never know what might come in handy." She stated with a small laugh. "I figured that while we were there that we might as well grab some medical things that we might need other than just medicine, so we got some gauze and other basic necessities and then got out of there. We only had so much daylight left and I wanted to try and get out of Rio Rancho before noon if possible."

"Before we were able to leave though we needed to stop at one of the sporting goods stores," Natalie said to him. "There was no way we would make it a few more states over without better weapons, let alone Georgia. And I wanted to get Marlie something that she could actually use to defend herself, something that she would be able to use at a distance – I didn't want her anywhere close to them dead things." She stated and picked up another flower and began to pick the petals off of it. "We were able to find a store though, I didn't know the town all that well but the hospital did have a phonebook so we were able to find it with only a few problems, you know how I am with directions." She admitted with an amused look to which Daryl just gave a small grin in response.

Daryl glanced at the flower Natalie had basically destroyed before looking back up at her once again, "The two of you found one though?" he questioned. "I mean the two of ya brought back a handful of guns, look like ya robbed a small artillery."

At that Natalie gave a small smile, "They aren't nearly enough, but before we were able to get our hands on them we had a few minor…..minor problems."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daryl questioned gruffly, already worried about what may have happened to Natalie and Marlie. "What happened?"

Natalie gently patted Daryl's hand that was resting on his crossbow in a comforting way and grinned, "The moment we stepped into the sporting goods store we had guns pointed at our faces." She replied to him calmly.

**Rio Rancho, New Mexico**

"**Uhh hi," Natalie stated as she had her hands raised up in a nonthreatening way and looked at the three men that had their guns pointed at herself and her daughter, the moment Natalie saw the guns though she stepped in front of Marlie just in case they all did something incredibly stupid. **

**An older black man that had greying hair raised his rifle at her, "You're not welcomed here, leave!" he yelled at her. "Find somewhere else." **

**There was no way in hell that Natalie was about to leave, there were not that many hunting supply stores in Rio Rancho, or at least not that she could tell from the phone book. She needed stuff from this store and she was going to be successful and get the supplies that she needed and then she would be on her way, these men were not going to get in Natalie's way of making sure herself and Marlie survived this hell. **

"**I'm not leaving," Natalie said stubbornly and gave the older man a challenging look.**

**Natalie was not a person who got scared off or backed down easily, if she can take Merle at his worst and still tell him what was what and give him a piece of her mind without even flinching when he got angry then she could definitely take these guys.**

"**Look lady," a younger man who had reddish blonde hair said to her as he took a step closer but still had his hand gun raised. "We don't want to hurt you but we will if we have to." He said to her bluntly. "The world has changed since all of this shit went down, it's survival of the fittest now." **

**At that Natalie gave him an amused, "It is survival of the fittest and I'm not afraid of killing every single one of you if I have to. I don't want to do it, and I haven't ever killed someone who wasn't one of those Biter things but I will if it means myself and my daughter live. I am a mother, I'm not afraid of doing terrible things to survive." She said fiercely. **

**It was at that moment when the men in the store realized that Natalie with her and they all glanced away from her for a moment and to just behind her where Marlie was standing, and it was obvious to anyone that the little six year old girl was scared out of her mind. Marlie was huddled behind her mother's protective stance and was grasping tightly to the back of her shirt. **

"**We're sorry," The red headed man started. "But you need to leave, this place is ours and we can't allow you to stay." He said sounding sincerely apologetic about the whole thing.**

**At that Natalie looked at the three men with a hardened face, "So you are just going to let a woman and a young child leave and face the streets with just two shitty ass knives?" she questioned with a cold stare. "I know the world changes people but even that is a bit harsh." She stated to them. **

**The last man, a middle aged man with tattooed up arms and brown hair spoke up to her when she said that, "I'm sorry ma'am but that's how things have to be. We can't afford to give handouts to everyone who crosses our path." He told her. **

"**And I'm not about to leave without what I need," Natalie said stubbornly. **

"**Seems to me that we are at an impasse," the older black man said to her. **

**Before Natalie was able to respond to that Marlie tugged on her shirt and pulled herself as close to her mother as she possibly could, "Mama I don't wanna be here no more, I wanna leave. They're scary." She said and gave a quick gesture to the three men who still had their guns pointed at them. **

**Natalie just responded by squeezing her daughters hand before turning her attention back to the three men once again, "I'm not leaving until my daughter and I get some supplies that will help us live." She said to them. "And you, are not going to stop me." She told them with a pointed look. "You fucking got it?"**

"**You aren't getting anything bitch," the black man said to her. **

**Hearing that Natalie gave a dry laugh, "You think this is me being a bitch?" she questioned and shook her head in amusement. "Oh this is not me being a bitch, nowhere close to it." She said to him. "Now what you all are going to do is give me some basic supplies and then me and my daughter are going to be on our way and out of your hair and we won't ever bother you again." She told them icily sweet. "You have this whole store to yourselves I think you can spare a few things." She told them knowingly. **

"**Come on man," the young red haired man said to the black man. "She has a kid, can't we just spare a few things. It's not like we-" **

**The tattooed man interrupted him with a harsh glare, "No, Jackson said no." he said to the younger man. "Sides she may have a group somewhere and may send more to get handouts. We can't be suckered in. Now grow some damn balls kid." He stated. **

**Natalie gave a huff of annoyance, "Look you stupid assholes," she said as she stepped forward and up into the black man's space so that he couldn't point his gun at her anymore. "I am not in the mood for this shit right now, you are wasting my daylight. I don't have a fucking group, it's just me and my daughter and I just need some fucking supplies that are gonna last me so I can get the fuck out of this state. Me and my daughter are headin' to Georgia." She said damn near losing the last of her patience for these people, they have a god damn hunting store to themselves they can spare a few things. **

**Without warning the black man pushed Natalie back which made her stumble a bit but she managed to catch herself on a display case so that she didn't fall, the older black man readjusted his gun and pointed it at Natalie once again. "Get the fuck out of here before I do something that you'll regret." **

"**Look," Natalie said with a glare, she really has taken way too much after Daryl if she just keeps on going at this guy but for one the man is pissing her off and two she needs to survive in this new world and the only way to do that is to get the right supplies. "I just need to get som-" **

**Before Natalie was able to finish her sentence a loud voice rang out, "Hey! What is going on down here?" **

**Looking up to the second level of the hunting store Natalie saw a muscled Latino man standing on the stairs with two other heavily armed men who looked like they were former army. **

**The man and the two armed men made their way down the stairs and over to where the rest of the group were standing in front of Natalie with their guns raised at her still, which to Natalie was completely idiotic all she had was a somewhat decent knife that she didn't even have out or pulled against them. She was one woman with a knife it's not like she was going to be able to do all that much damage against a store full of guys with guns – men can be idiotic at times. **

"**Put those guns down!" the Latino man commanded. "Don't you guys have any sense, you don't point a gun against a woman and a child, and she doesn't even have a weapon out." He said and pushed his way to the front and shoved the older black man's gun down and out of Natalie's face. **

"**Jackson what the hell are you doing?" The older black man said to him with a glare on his face. "We are in this to survive not take in stray cats." He said.**

**When the older man said that Natalie took on a displeased expression, if Daryl was here he wouldn't even hesitate to give the man a piece of his mind of how he referred to Natalie as. Punches definitely would have been thrown, Daryl was a bit protective.**

**The Latino man, Jackson looked at the older black man with a raised brow, "If I remember right Louis, you were a stray cat before we took you in." he pointed out steadily. **

"**That's different," Louis said darkly. **

**Jackson shook his head, "I don't see how it is," he stated and then turned away from Louis and then looked at Natalie and her daughter and smiled at the two of them gently. "I'm Jackson, sorry about the rudeness that my people showed you. They haven't been in the presence of two ladies such as yourselves in a long while." He told them. **

**For a moment Natalie sized the man up to see if he was being sincere and to be sure that he wasn't going to try and attack them, after a few moments of that Natalie gave him a nod of acceptance. "It's fine," she said to him with a sigh. "We gotta be careful in this world as it is nowadays." She told him. "Changes people." She said and then gave a sideways glance to Louis who responded with a glare. **

"**That is true," Jackson said calmly. "That still does not give my men the right to act as they did to you, especially when you have a child with you." He told her. "I am guessing that you came here for a reason though?" **

**Natalie gave a nod, "We need supplies, that was one of the main reasons we decided to come to a bigger city. None of the smaller towns really have any sporting goods stores and we need supplies. We won't survive all that long if we don't get anything better than this," she said as she patted the knife that was trapped to her belt at the moment. "I need to ensure that my daughter and myself live to see another day and I won't be able to do much protecting with this small knife." She stated. **

**The man nodded at that and then looked at Natalie and Marlie intently before he responded to what she said, "We have enough room, and we can protect you. You are more than willing to stay with us if you would like." He offered to her. **

**At that Louis shook his head and stomped off to who knows where and the tattooed man scoffed, "Just what we need is more mouths to feed, this isn't good will Jackson." **

"**Shut up Adam," Jackson threw and then looked at Natalie. "So?" **

"**As nice as that is for you to offer we can't," Natalie said with a tight smile. "It's nice of you but we can't stay here." She told him. **

**Jackson looked at her curiously, "Why not?" he asked.**

**Before Natalie was able to answer his question Marlie piped up, "Because we gots to find my daddy!" she said in a no buts about it kind of attitude. "We was sep'rated and we need to find him now." **

**When Marlie said that Jackson bent down to her level, "Is that so?" he asked.**

"**Mhmm." Marlie said with a nod that made her hair fly all over the place. **

"**I'm sure he misses you and your mom a lot." He told her with a gentle smile and stood up. "Your husband?" he asked. **

**Natalie gave a half smile, "I was over in Arizona visiting some family when all of this shit happened, we're from Georgia and that's where my husband is right now and the plan is to make our way to Georgia and hopefully try and find him." She stated with a downcast look. "That's why we need some supplies. We won't make it there with what we have." **

**The man nodded at that and ran his hands through his short spikey hair, "Well ma'am you are in luck, we have plenty to spare, he said and when one of the men started to argue he shot them a look and continued on as if nothing happened. "I am gonna set you up with what you need and a bit extra. I'll give you what you need." He said with a nod.**

**Hearing those words damn near brought tears to Natalie's eyes, she was so desperate that she would have done almost anything to get some supplies. Hell she would have robbed from the elderly if she had no other choice. The fact that this Jackson guy was willing to help was perfect. **

"The guy Jackson," Natalie said looking at Daryl with a half-smile on her face. "He ended up giving us more than we needed and I appreciated that more than he probably realizes. I traded him a few things in exchange for what he gave us, some of the food we had, a few medical supplies and some other basic stuff like blankets and whatnot." She told him with a shrug. "But he gave us a tent, sleeping bags, flashlights and a few batteries, a couple guns, ammo, my bow and arrows and Marlie's arrow gun and a few other things that would let us live in the woods if we absolutely had to."

When Natalie finished Daryl couldn't help but just shake his head in amusement and astonishment, his wife was one crazy ass woman. She walks into a hunting store and immediately has guns pointed at her but she never backed down and basically talked back to the men who had guns pointed at her.

"You…woman you are insane you know that right?" Daryl asked her. "You coulda pushed the wrong buttons and you mighta been shot." He stated.

"Oh I'm fine you big baby," Natalie said with a shake of her head. "I was a defenseless woman; there is a reason why I didn't take my knife out. They all looked like ex-military, well except for the redheaded kid but the other ones most definitely were and if there is one thing I know about military people is that they have honor. There wouldn't be any honor in shooting a woman with a child who didn't even have her weapon out." She pointed out.

Daryl just gave her a look before he leaned forward and captured her lips in a quick heated kiss, "I love you." He stated to her.

Natalie grinned at him and pulled him back to her for another kiss, she tried to wrap her arms around his neck but he pulled away before she was able to do that. "Daryl." Natalie whined with a pout on her lips.

Laughing Daryl shook his head at her, "As much as I would enjoy that Nat, because let's be honest here both you and I have tension goin' on right now, but we need to finish this shit up before we start something. We ain't ever gonna finish our talk if we start that." He told her with a wolfish grin on his face.

With a sigh of resignation Natalie went on with telling Daryl what happened to her, she would rather be having sex with him but apparently he doesn't believe in having sex breaks. Such a disappointment.

"Marlie and I with our supplies made it out of New Mexico with no problems, other than the odd Walker and a roadblock or two, we did perfectly fine getting out of there and in Oklahoma we saw a group of people raiding some of the cars on the high way so we took a different route. I didn't want to take our chances that they may be nice people, not every single group a person runs into is nice." She stated with a wry grin on her face.

"No," Daryl said with a shake of his head. "They ain't."

Natalie rolled her shoulders a bit, "We made it into Arkansas, and I'd say we were about an hour or so away from Little Rock, give or take a bit. Me and Mar were running low on gas, damn near empty so I knew that I was going to have to take one of the more traveled high ways. Something I have been trying to not do all that often if I didn't have to but most of the abandoned cars had already been dried up and didn't have any gas in them." She said and took a deep breath before going on. "Most of the damn modern cars have shit that makes it harder to get gas out of them so I was trying to stick to the older cars – easier to steal gas and all." She said off hand. "I had about two gas cans filled when-" Natalie stopped herself.

"What?" Daryl asked looking at her expectantly. "What happened?" he asked sounding a bit frantic not that he would ever admit that.

She gave a wavering smile, "We were attacked." She said carefully, like ripping off a band aide almost. "Marlie was sitting in the van, in the back seat and I was a car or two down but within hearing distance when this huge ass guy comes at me and knocks me to the ground."

The moment Natalie said that Daryl closed his eyes just for a moment and took deep, calming breaths so that he didn't start swearing up a storm and interrupt Natalie. He could only assume where this was going and he definitely did not want it to end with Natalie being violated.

"Daryl?" Natalie questioned and looked at her husband questioningly. "Are you okay? Should I stop?" she asked.

Immediately Daryl shook his head, "Nah, I'm fine." He said through clenched teeth. "I just needed to breathe for a second, keep on goin' I'm fine now." He told her.

Natalie hesitated before continuing on, she really did not want to keep on going but Daryl wouldn't let her not tell him and he did deserve to know what happened. He was her husband and all.

"He knocked me to the ground and at first I had no fucking clue what was going on," she said darkly and crossed her arms. "I wasn't sure if it was Marlie who knocked me down, a Walker…no idea. But then, then I looked up and saw this guy." Natalie said with a disgusted look on her face. "He was looking at me like he was the cat who got the canary. He told me that he hadn't seen a woman in weeks and hadn't had the chance to have one in even longer, said he saw me getting gas from cars and saw that all I had with me was my daughter so he decided that I was the perfect target." She said and clenched her teeth.

Natalie hated that moment in her life, she was vulnerable and damn near helpless and was unable to protect her daughter. She was far from helpless and the man saying these things to her and making her feel weak and powerless pissed Natalie off.

"This ass," Natalie said, basically spitting the word out like poison. "Said he would make a deal with me, either me or Marlie." She said and noticed that her hands were shaking from the anger she still felt over that. "I told him that wasn't an option. He wasn't going to be getting either of us. God, Daryl." Natalie said looking up into Daryl's blue eyes. "I was doing all that I could to be strong for Mar so that she wouldn't freak out but she was terrified she was basically shaking where she was….she couldn't move she because she was that scared." She said closing her eyes and willing the tears that she felt coming to stop.

"He grinned at me, the guy had the gall to fucking grin at me when I said that to him," Natalie said with an angry expression on her face. "He turned away from me, took a knife out and headed towards the van where Marlie was sitting. I didn't even hesitate, I jumped on the guys back and grabbed for the knife, I didn't care if I got cut in the process but Marlie was not going to have anything bad happen to her, not if I had anything to do with it." She said with determination. "I took him down though, but I got a nasty cut from the knife." Natalie stated and showed him the scar that she had on her left palm, the knife didn't slice her too deep but it was enough to leave a hint of a scar.

Daryl quietly took her hand in his and traced the scar on her palm, he was angry and beating himself up because he wasn't there to protect her and save her. He knew that realistically it wasn't his fault, plus he and Natalie were separated by quite a few states but it doesn't make Daryl feel like he should have been there. He is Natalie's husband and Marlie's dad; he is supposed to protect them.

"I tried to get up and get away; I only had a small knife on me but not enough time to grab it and get him so I was going for the van to get my gun but he grabbed me and tackled me to the ground once again." Natalie said, starting up once again. "He grabbed at me, he tried to fucking rip off my shirt and….and kiss me and shit." She said with a visible shudder which made Daryl's hand that wasn't holding Natalie's clench tightly, so tight that his knuckles were turning white. "I tried to kick at him and push him off but he had me pinned with the knife to my neck, I was basically helpless." She said and a tear finally did manage to escape.

When Daryl saw his fierce and strong wife let a tear roll down her face he let go of her hand and gently wiped the tear away, "You ain't ever been a helpless woman Nat, you're not capable of that." He told her seriously. "Ya fought with all you had in ya."

Natalie gave a small grin when Daryl said that to her, "He…he was a terrible person. He nearly did me in Daryl, he was so damn fucking close." She stated and shook her head at the memory. "If it wasn't for Marlie…I don't even know." Natalie told him with a tight smile.

"What'd she do?" Daryl asked in genuine curiosity.

Running her hands through her hair Natalie looked up at Daryl, "Marlie took her arrow gun that we got from those guys in New Mexico and shot the guy in the ass." She told him with a grin.

Hearing that Daryl took on a proud smirk on his face, "Little Mar did that?" he asked.

"Mhmm," Natalie said with a nod of her head. "She's definitely her daddy's daughter." She told him with a pointed look.

For a moment Daryl had a proud look on his face, "Good girl." He said. "You manage to get one over him though? Right?" he asked her.

At that Natalie nodded, "Yeah, I did. Marlie distracted the man enough that I was able to get his knife away from him." She stated. "I knew what I had to do to survive but even if the asshole was a terrible person it didn't mean that I wanted to kill a person who wasn't a Walker." She said and breathed in deeply. "I managed to lure him away from the van and where Marlie could see what I was going to have to do, I know that she is gonna see death with the Walkers/ Biters and whatnot but I don't want to kill her innocence she doesn't deserve that to happen to her. She needs to keep that for as long as she possibly can." She told him.

"You did right by her," Daryl said with a soft look on his face, he needed Natalie to know that he didn't judge her for what she had to do to that man, for what kept herself and their daughter alive.

"I killed him….I killed him before he was able to kill me." Natalie said monotonous. "I didn't even know what to do after I did that. I mean he may have been trying to do something bad to me but someone must have known him….there must have been someone out there who would miss him." She said with a flicker of a grimace.

Daryl grasped her by the hips and pulled her a bit closer to him and looked into her eyes piercingly, "Ya did the right thing, there ain't no doubt about it so don't go second guessing the choices you made Natalie Dixon."

Natalie gave a hint of a smile when he said that, "Thanks babe," she said with a joking smile and then leaned forward a bit and laid her head on Daryl's shoulder and just took a breather.

In response to that Daryl gently traced up and down Natalie's spine soothingly, something they both found comforting. Daryl is able to touch Natalie and Natalie is able to tell that Daryl is giving her the comfort she needed, a happy medium so to say.

"Is there anything else that I need to know about Nat?" Daryl asked after a few minutes of silence, and then pushed Natalie's hair over one shoulder; he swore that her hair had a mind of its own some days.

Hesitantly Natalie answered, "Marlie and I were attacked a few days before we made it into Georgia." She stated. "It was a group of three guys who wanted the supplies I had, I tricked them by standing on a truck that wasn't mine but I was doing all I could to keep them away from mine and Marlie's van." She told him. "They asked us nicely for some supplies but we were running low and I couldn't spare any and after telling them no many times over they took things down a dangerous route and tried to take it by force and I ended up having to do a sort of fight to the death. I was damn near shot a few times but I managed to get out alive." She told him.

"One was trying to rape me…I don't know what is with me and attracting the creeps but I do." Natalie told him with a shake of her head, hoping it distract him from the fact that another man had tried to rape her yet again. "He seemed to be with a weird group though, one that enjoyed torture and doing bad things to people who they came across. I have a few scratched from one of them, he must have been new because he barely broke the skin." She told him and scooted back farther on the log and then lifted her shirt up a bit so he could see the few scratches she had from the knife.

Daryl shifted a bit and clenched and unclenched his hands a few times until he suddenly just hit the bark of the log that they were sitting on, he then ran his hands through his hair and just grasped onto his knees and hoped to try and calm down. It pissed him off that at least two times Natalie was nearly raped, something no woman should ever have to deal with in their lives. No woman deserved that fate, no matter who they were.

"Daryl," Natalie said gently and moved over to sit closer to him. "Daryl that's it, that was all that happened until I met up with Glenn, Jim and T-Dog on that high way." She admitted to him. "Nothing else happened." She promised as she rested her hands on his thighs and then leaned towards him and gently kissed his neck and slowly kissed her way from his neck up to his ear and gently licked it before quickly moving away and making her way to his lips.

Gently Natalie gave Daryl a whisper of a kiss and made to move away but before she knew what was happening Daryl grasped Natalie by her hips and pulled her so that she was straddling his legs, giving a small grin Daryl raised a brow at her and wrapped one arm around Natalie's lower back so that she didn't go toppling over.

"You call that a kiss?" he questioned in amusement. "That's like how a twelve year old girl gives her first kiss. I know for a fact that ya can do better than that." He mocked jokingly.

At that Natalie smiled, "Hmm," Natalie said as she leaned back a bit so she could have a good look at Daryl. "I'm not sure if you can handle that kind of kiss. I mean I did just tell ya some really shocking stuff." She told him with a hint of a smile on her face.

When she said that Daryl lost the small grin that he had and looked at her seriously, "I appreciate you tellin' me all of that ya know." He said softly and pulled her a bit closer to him and wrapped his muscled arms around her and laid his forehead against hers and closed his eyes for a moment and breathed her in.

Silently Natalie smiled and wrapped her arm around his neck and gently caressed the back of his neck and played with the hair that was there, it was starting to get long again and personally Natalie preferred it that way. He looked like a smexy beast.

"I love ya woman." Daryl said and then without warning pulled Natalie's face down to his and kissed her passionately, and entangled his fingers into her messy hair and then moved his free hand down to her hips and then behind her a bit and squeezed her beautiful and full ass.

Giving a slight squeak and jump into the kiss Natalie pulled away a bit and gently bit the edge of her lip, something she knew that Daryl loved when she did so and gave him a hooded look.

"I love you too Daryl," she told him lovingly but before Daryl was able to pull her towards him once again she expertly jumped off of his lap and side stepped the crossbow so not to break it and made sure there were a few feet between the two of them.

For a moment Daryl just sat there on the log and looked at Natalie who was standing a bit away from him and looking at him with a playful and lusty expression on her face, no matter what she was doing or how she looked at him there was always the underlining emotion of playfulness. It was something that Natalie always said she took on when she got older because of the lack of a childhood she had, growing up with an alcoholic for a father made her and her older sister have to act older than they were.

"What are you doin' sitting there boy," Natalie said with her hands on her hip. "Are ya gonna come and get me or just sit there like a creeper?" she asked teasingly.

At that Daryl pushed himself up and off of the log and gently set his crossbow somewhere that would be easily accessible just in case Walkers came upon them, and then he stalked over to Natalie with a predatorily which made her give a small girlish giggle.

"I definitely ain't no creeper woman," Daryl said as he got closer to his wife. "You are mine, not nothing I can do that would be considered creepy when it comes to you." He said to her with a determined look.

One way or another he and Natalie were going to get naked and have a bit of fun in the woods, who cares about getting leaves and sticks and things in awkward places.

"Good," Natalie said with a grin on her face and stepped a bit closer so that she was in arms distance but before Daryl was able to reach out towards her Natalie grasped onto his shirt and with more strength than Daryl thought she had ripped his shirt open, buttons going everywhere. "You. Naked. Now." She all but demanded.

It was hard to not get turned on when his wife did things like that, "Patience woman." He said and slowly shrugged the shirt off and tossed it over towards the log and then tugged the shirt that Natalie was wearing up and over her head. "Fuck, how much I've missed this." He said and gently ran a finger down from her neck to between her quite nice sized breasts. "You and I are going to have some fun."

Grinning Natalie tugged him towards her and looked up into his blue eyes and grinned, "I was counting on that." She told him and without any hesitation stood up on her tippy toes as much as she could and gave him a passionate and lust filled kiss.

It was definitely going to be a few hours until the two of them returned to camp.

A/N: I love you all. Thank you for continuing on reading and following and favoriting. You all are my heros! please review for me i love to kow what you like and suggestions. not saying i will put everything in that you suggest but i will consider it. love ya all.

Quote of the Day: Pain is as diverse as man. One suffers as one can.

Victor Hugo

Sex and beauty are inseparable, like life and consciousness. And the intelligence which goes with sex and beauty, and arises out of sex and beauty, is intuition.

David Herbert Lawrence


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: not mine in any way

A/N: I know i posted this chapter already but i made a few cahnges to the bottom half of it, basically after the sex scene. It's nothing major but if you feel like it you can read it.

A/N: love you all!

Chapter thirteen

No even breaking the kiss that the two were sharing Daryl pulled Natalie as close to his person as he could and very slowly and torturously ground his quite obvious erection into Natalie who in response moaned into the kiss and dug her nails lightly into Daryl's back where she was holding onto him – that was enough to make Daryl grin into the kiss. Natalie digging her nails into Daryl was one way that she showed that she was enjoying what was happening to her.

Slowly Daryl began to move one of his hands from where it was resting just barely above the pocket of Natalie's jeans and then traced along the rim them, and then traced it gently up her back and teased the clasp of her pink flower printed bra which made Natalie whine but instead of unclasping it like Natalie hoped he moved past it until he reached the back of Natalie's neck. When he reached the base of Natalie's neck Daryl then traced his way down her back and once again skipped over her bra clasp.

"You are an evil, evil man Daryl Dixon," Natalie said as she reluctantly pulled away and looked into her husband's beautiful and heated gaze. "Stop teasing me and touch me damn it." She said to him with a huff.

Daryl couldn't help but grin at her when she said that, "Touch ya?" he questioned her with a brow raised. "Ya want me to touch ya?" he asked her.

"Daryl….I can't take waiting and being tortured." Natalie whined and closed her eyes for a moment before she looked up at her husband pleadingly.

In normal circumstances Natalie was all for the foreplay and teasing before getting down and dirty; in fact she loved that part of sex the most some days but right now she was not in the mood for teasing and foreplay. It's been way too long since she and Daryl have been together and all the times when Natalie was able to masturbate it was nowhere near as good as the real thing, and right now the real was so close yet Daryl was putting it off. That was not happening, if Natalie had to tie Daryl down and have her wicked way with him she would. She wasn't against tying a man up once in a while.

When Natalie said that it just made Daryl's smirk widen even more, "You can't take it?" he asked in amusement. "Is the Redneck too much for some silly Yankee to take? Am I too much for a strong, beautiful and sexy woman like ya self?" he teased as he pulled a bit away from Natalie and moved one hand to her shoulder to keep her a bit away and then the other slowly traced the cup of her bra and the skin that was just below the wire of it.

"Husband if you don't start sexing me up I'm gonna…" Natalie warned leaving the sentence open for interpretation.

Daryl grinned at her as he stepped a bit closer and looked down into her face as he hands began to slowly, very, very slowly make their way up her back and towards her bra. "You're gonna what?" he asked with a wolfish grin on his face, acting like he was the king of the world.

Natalie opened her mouth to respond but before she was able to Daryl expertly unclasped Natalie's bra and very gently pulled the bran down and off of her arms before throwing it behind him and towards the log, where it seems they were throwing most of their belongings at the moment. The moment that Natalie's breasts were exposed to Daryl's eyes he just stood there and stared at them, it's been so long since he has been able to see his wife's beautiful body and her wondrous breasts. It was no secret that Daryl was a breast man, and his wife had a great pair on her. Natalie had an amazing set of breasts when he first met her almost ten or so years ago but once she got pregnant with Marlie they were even just that much more amazing – he could look at them all day long and not get bored.

"What were you sayin'?" Daryl questioned as he reluctantly tore his eyes away from Natalie's breasts and into her dark eyes that were looking at him pleadingly. "Ya said that if I don't start sexing ya that you were gonna do something." He said to her. "And what exactly is that?"

"I'll make you is what is going to happen Daryl Matthew Dixon," Natalie said with a determined look on her face and with a hand propped on her hip.

she may be half naked but even when Natalie was like that she could look intimidating if she wanted to, though Daryl wasn't intimidated by her but rather turned on by her when she got like that.

"I don't know if ya got it in ya to make me," Daryl teased as he stepped a bit away from Natalie.

It was times like these, when it was just Daryl and Natalie that Daryl felt the most free and like himself. He didn't have to fit into someone else's view of who they thought he was and he didn't have to answer question after question as to why he was acting different and not himself – he was the most himself when it was only him and his family.

Hearing the challenge in his voice Natalie eyed Daryl up for a moment in all of his shirtless glory before she all but threw herself at him and pushed him up against a tree – the two of them had something for trees being involved quite often when they have sex. Not the most comfortable of places to have sex but not bad either.

Pushing Daryl up and against the tree with all her strength she gave him a haughty look and then leaned up and acted like she was going to kiss him on the lips but instead opted for his neck and began sucking and licking the area, while her lips were busying themselves with Daryl's neck and any area of skin within the vicinity other than his lips her hands seemed to have a mind of their own and slowly made their way down from his chest, to his stomach which wasn't a six pack or anything but it was toned, and then made their way to his pants where one of Natalie's favorite parts of Daryl was located.

For a few moments Natalie just teased the trail of hair that was there and traced her finger from one side of his pants to the other a few times before she, herself couldn't take it anymore and started to undo the belt Daryl was wearing expertly and quickly tossed the gun that was tucked into the belt a few feet away from them – they may need it so best to keep it close.

Moving away from his neck Natalie began to kiss her way down his neck, kissing a few of the scars that were there from his past, down to above his belly button and finally just below it and then before Daryl could say anything she unbuttoned his pants and unzipped them and pulled his pants down past his knees.

"Off. Now." Natalie demanded as she slowly stood back up but not before she licked her way from Daryl's stomach up to his chest.

Before Natalie was able to go any further than that Daryl gently grabbed her by her arms and pulled Natalie back up to standing position until she eye to eyes with him . . . or rather as much as she could with being a bit shorter than him.

Daryl grinned at her, "You are testin' my control woman." He said with a shake of his head.

When he said that to her Natalie couldn't help but grin right back at him, "Just returning the favor dear husband." She pointed out. "Now off with the pants and shoes or I will take drastic measures and cut them off of you. And I would really rather not because those pants make your ass look hot."

Shaking his head in amusement at his wife Daryl quickly bent down and took his shoes and socks off – having sex with socks on is just weird; he then kicked his pants away from where he and Natalie were standing.

Instead of standing up like Natalie thought he was going to do, Daryl crouched down in front of Natalie and then lifted left leg up onto his upper thought and made quick work of unlacing her boot and took it and her sock off, and then proceeded to do the same to the other foot.

Once Daryl had finished doing that to Natalie, he just stared up at his wife and gave a soft smile at how beautiful she was and the fact that they were together and both alive and neither had to wonder anymore if the other was alive or not.

Getting up onto his knee's Daryl traced his calloused fingers down from between Natalie's breast to where her belt was and he unbuckled it, unsheathed her knife that was strapped to her leg, and tossed it away from the two of them. Then with a waggle of his eyebrows Daryl hooked his fingers in the belt loops of Natalie's pants and then leaned back into the grass and pulled Natalie down onto of him.

"Daryl!" Natalie said with a hint of a giggle in her tone of voice and slightly pushed herself up a bit so that she was hovering above Daryl a bit in all of her half naked glory.

Not even bothering to answer her Daryl just smiled at her gently, reached is hand up towards her face and pushed some hair back behind her ear and then leaned up and gently kissed her and tangled his free hand into her curly hair. Smiling into the kiss Natalie carefully pushed at Daryl's chest a bit so that he leaned back down into the grass and then laid herself on top of his chest and combed her hands through his hair and deepened the kiss and repositioned herself so that she had one leg resting between his and another that was curled up near his side.

Before too long the two's relatively calm kissing and touching escalated, Daryl broke the kiss with a slight moan and then grasped Natalie by the waist and flipped the two of them over so that it was Natalie who was on the bottom instead and then settled himself in a kneeling position in front of her.

Leaning towards Natalie, Daryl kissed the corner of her mouth, her neck and then made sure that anyone who would take a good look at Natalie's neck would know just who she belonged to and that he would take anyone out who tried to make a move on her. Moving down and away from her neck which had Natalie making quite the vocal agreement, Daryl moved down to her chest where his favorite parts of Natalie were located and wasted little to no time to licking his way to the peak and taking it within his mouth and sucking quite happily on it. In the meantime his other hand had made its way down her stomach until it reached her pants and slowly Daryl began to unbutton and unzip her pants and then slipped his hand inside of her boyshort underwear.

The moment Daryl's lips closed around her breast and started to suck Natalie gave a heavy moan of pleasure, she always was the kind of woman who loved to have her breasts teased and played with. Even when her and Daryl were just sleeping she ended up grabbing his hand and having it rest between her breasts.

Grasping Daryl by the back of the neck Natalie pulled him as close to her chest as she possibly could, and hopefully without suffocating the man she did have a good sized pair of breasts on her after all. "God Daryl, please." She begged him and then gave a keen when Daryl's finger decided to find itself slowly teasing her entrance. "Don't you dare stop, don't you fucking dare." She commanded of him in between heavy breaths from everything that Daryl was doing to her at the moment.

It definitely has been way too long, god Natalie needed this so badly. The both of them did really.

Hitching her leg up and around Daryl's waist Natalie tried to pull him closer to her with her legs but the man would not budge which made Natalie give an animal like whine from the frustration she was feeling, she needed Daryl right then and there she didn't want to bother with foreplay or anything like that. She needed him inside her.

Chuckling at the obvious frustration his wife was feeling Daryl pulled away and looked down into her heavy, dark eyes and braced himself with one hand while the other one was fingering Natalie and making sure that she was stretched and ready enough. The girl may be more than ready but he'd enjoyed seeing her all flustered and frustrated.

"Stop….tea..sing…meee." Natalie said almost singing the last part when Daryl found and began to play with Natalie's nub, which had always been extra sensitive on her. "Please…..god please Daryl." Natalie moaned out to him and positioned her leg so that she could somewhat push the boxers that her husband was wearing down his legs, or at least as far as she could with Daryl having his hand down her pants.

Smiling, Daryl leaned down and gave a kiss to Natalie and quickly explored her mouth ha bit with his tongue before he pulled away and looked down at her lovingly and answered her whines, "Babe I love you, but we ain't gonna be doin' this if ya ain't a bit wet first. Trust me, we need lubrication neither of us are gonna enjoy this reunion sex if we are dry as a drought."

"Fuck," Natalie said almost inaudible but Daryl heard nonetheless.

"Oh don't ya be worryin' Natalie," Daryl smiled down at her. "We will be doin' that in no time." He told her seriously.

Groaning Natalie reached her hands up and began to run them up and down Daryl's back before they quickly adventured further south and reached his beautiful bottom and gave a tight squeeze, but before Daryl was able to respond to that Natalie leaned up and began to kiss behind his ear and lick the area she kissed which resulted in Daryl giving a groan. Natalie definitely knew how to work his weak spots to her benefit, there was no doubt about it.

"You have too many clothes on," Natalie said breathlessly, with everything that Daryl was doing to her she barely had time to breathe.

It was either that or Natalie forgot how to which actually wouldn't be all that surprising, Daryl had quite the talented set of fingers.

"I got too many clothes on?" Daryl questioned momentarily stopping what he was doing which made Natalie groan. "You are the one who at least still got her pants on." He pointed out to her before continuing on with his ministrations.

Giving a slight laugh Natalie leaned her head back and closed her eyes at the feelings she was receiving, "Ba…barely." She finally replied after a minute. "Your hand is down my pants Daryl, I'm basically wearing nothing." She retorted.

Just as Daryl was about to respond to that Natalie clenched up around Daryl's fingers, she grasped at Daryl's arm that was in her pants, dug her nails into his forearm and pulled him closer to her and gave a cry of pleasure. Normally it would take a tad bit more to make her climax…even a small one like that, but it's been quite a while since the two have been able to be together like this.

"You are evil," Natalie responded after about five minutes of Daryl not moving from his position and just hovering over her and staring down at her as she came down from her high. "And you have way too talented fingers, those things should be illegal." She stated as she breathed in and out deeply which made Daryl watch her breasts with extra close attention.

Not even responding to that Daryl carefully removed his one hand from Natalie's pants and leaned down and gave her a long, hard kiss and attempted to try and tug Natalie's pants and underwear down her legs without breaking the kiss but it just wasn't happening apparently.

Reluctantly breaking the kiss Daryl scooted a bit down and away from Natalie and tugged on the legs of her pants until they were loose enough to pull all of the way off and toss to the side, and then he did the same with her underwear.

Looking at Daryl Natalie couldn't help but smile, he was beautiful and all her's, there wasn't anyone else in the world dead or alive who would be able to take Daryl's place or make her feel nearly as loved as he does. Some people may be turned off by the scars that Daryl had on his body, but Natalie thought of them as marks of strengths and things that he has been able to overcome. She made sure to kiss them whenever she could to make sure that Daryl knew she wasn't ever bothered by them.

"Now look who has too many clothes on," Natalie teased back as she looked at his obvious erection and the pair of boxers that were hanging on just below that lovely piece of his body.

In response to that Daryl sat down and made quick work of ridding himself of his boxers, ones that probably needed to be washed badly but Natalie was refraining from thinking about that at the moment.

Making his way towards Natalie, Daryl grasped her by the leg and gently pulled her closer to him and gently caressed her calf, and made his way up to her knee, upper thigh and purposely skipped over the area that he had just been teasing until he reached her breasts and gave a gentle squeeze and massage to each of them and enjoyed the beautiful sound of Natalie moaning at the contact. She was especially sensitive.

"Daryl," Natalie said through clenched teeth, trying to hold in the moans that were begging to be let out. "No teasing, there isn't time for teasing right now." She basically commanded of him, but it came out more as a beg.

Scooting up a bit further so that he was almost pressed against Natalie's core but not quite Daryl gave Natalie a playful smirk, "There's always time for teasing." He stated to her.

At that Natalie gave an unimpressed look to Daryl before responding, "No, no we don't Daryl." She said seriously and quickly sat up a bit before she grasped Daryl's erection in her hand and began to pump his erection. "I will do this painfully slow until you see things my way Daryl. Neither of us can take it slow right now." She told him fiercely and determinedly, Daryl was going to be in her within the next five minutes or she was going to make him wish he would have agreed to her terms.

"I can take anythin' you can give me woman," Daryl said to her breathily. "You ain't scarin' me." He stated.

With that said Natalie raised a brow and gave a quick squeeze and pull to his more than likely painful erection and smirked at Daryl when he gave an animalistic moan. He was most definitely affected, no trying to hid e that erection.

"Ya sure Daryl?" Natalie questioned with a grin on her face.

Daryl groaned loudly, "You are a vixen woman," he said with a shake of his head.

Giving a waggle of her eyebrows Natalie nodded, "A Dixon Vixen." She joked to him.

Not even bothering to respond to that Daryl swatted Natalie's hand away from him and then pushed her back onto the ground and held himself above her, leaning down he gently kissed her on the lips and then lifted one of her legs so that it was hiked up by his hips and the other was bent with her foot flat on the ground. Grasping himself in his hand Daryl positioned himself at her folds and teased the area a bit which resulted in a soft moan from Natalie who wiggled a bit to try and urge him in farther.

"Daryl, please." Natalie said looking up at him with a pleading/pained expression on her face. "I can't take it anymore." She told him. "I need you now."

For a moment Daryl looked down at his wife and her somewhat sweaty face, "Are ya sure ya are ready?" he asked carefully.

Hitching herself up onto her elbows Natalie gave Daryl a pointed look, "Do I look like the kind of person who isn't ready?" she asked him rhetorically before leaning forward and kissing him quickly. "Now either get on with the show or lay back and let me do all of the work." She said with an annoyed huff.

Licking his lips quickly Daryl pushed Natalie back with a gentle shove before he looked into her eyes and gently thrust his hips forward and encased himself within Natalie, to which both Natalie and Daryl responded with a moan. Daryl groaned at the heat he felt from being in Natalie after such long time of being apart, for a few moments he just laid there on top of Natalie and enjoyed the feeling of skin against skin and being able to lay his head against her chest and hear her heartbeat. God, he never realized how much he would miss the simple things such as this.

Only moments later Natalie gave a gentle squeeze of her hips to Daryl and bucked a bit to urge him to move, "Move," she quietly demanded and breathed in deeply before wrapping an arm around Daryl's neck and trying to position herself closer to his body.

Not needing to be told twice Daryl quickly pulled himself almost all the way out before he thrusting himself back in again, all the while Natalie was holding onto him for dear life and meeting him thrust for thrust with her fingers grasping on Daryl and trying to pull herself as close to him as she possibly could.

Daryl damn near exploded right then and there, being inside of Natalie again and being able to be so close to her after so long was unimaginable. He was home. That's what this moment felt like to him, it was as if Daryl had gone on a long hunting trip and finally returned home. Natalie was home.

"Oh jebus," Natalie moaned as she threw her other leg over Daryl's hips and wrapped them as tightly around him as she possibly could and then messed her hands up in her hair.

There were just so many things that Natalie was feeling, she couldn't just concentrate on one she was feeling every single one at the same time and it was intense. Everything about Natalie and Daryl was intense though; the love intensely, they had an intense relationship, friendship and everything and anything in between.

"Fuck," Daryl growled out as he braced himself on his forearms as he continued to thrust in and out of Natalie, who was responding by running on of her feet up and down his back side and running her fingers through his hair.

Blinking her eyes a few times Natalie trained her eyes on Daryl and concentrated on his face, "Wha…what?" she questioned in concern.

Daryl breathed heavily before he was able to answer Natalie, "I ain't gonna last much longer, it's been too long Nat." he responded with a groan before he suddenly pulled out of her and came right there on the ground.

Giving an embarrassed groan Daryl rolled over onto his side next to Natalie and closed his eyes as he threw his arm up and over his eyes, he had hoped his first time that him and Natalie were back together that he would be able to last a bit longer than that, but I truly has been a while. Compared to having sex with her a few times to a week and even multiple times a day to not having sex for a month or so it was a miracle he lasted that long he guessed.

Sitting up Natalie just sat there with an amused smile for a few minutes before she couldn't help herself anymore and gave a small laugh, "It seems to me that we need to reacquaint ourselves with sex again." She said with an amused smile. "That was a bit shorter than I was hoping for."

"Oh shut up woman." Daryl responded as he threw his arm onto his stomach and squinted up at her, a bit of sunlight was peering in through the trees at just the right angle to hit him right in the eyes. "We've been sep'rated for damn near a month and I haven't had sex or even masturbated all that much since." He admitted.

Hearing that Natalie grimaced, "No wonder you didn't last that long." She joked.

Daryl gave her a heated glare for that comment, "Oh fuck you Natalie," he said to her.

Grinning to herself, Natalie laid a hand on Daryl's chest before leaning down and giving him a quick but passionate kiss, "Ya just did sweets," she told him before she started to kiss away from his lips and down and around his neck, behind his ear and giving a gentle bite to it.

While Natalie's lips were busy with Daryl's neck and lips, one of her hands that was not holding herself up and above Daryl made its way down past his chest and hips to a certain part of his body that she had previously been enjoying quite a bit. With a tight squeeze Daryl gave a sharp intake of breath and closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply, he came not even a few minutes ago and already he was starting to get hard again. Apparently he could take more than he had first thought.

"Again?" Daryl asked barely above a whisper and looked down at where Natalie was occupied with kissing every scar that he had on his chest. "Jesus Christ woman, you're nearly as bad as a man."

Natalie grinned wickedly at him, "You've never complained before." She said with a saucy look on her face.

Daryl gave a half smile, "Ain't complainin' I was just pointing out a fact." He stated.

"Good," Natalie said to him. "Because now it's time for the real deal, before was just a test run so to say….a trial I suppose." She replied and then smirked at him. "It's my turn to be on top." She said and without warning straddled him.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Quarry: 6:30 pm ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

It was close to supper time when Natalie and Daryl had finally managed to come back to camp after their talk and sexual escapades, it was obvious to anyone who could see what the two of them had been doing while they went off into the woods.

Once the two had managed to get dressed both Natalie and Daryl were sporting some good hickeys, and Daryl's shirt had come out on the losing end so he had to wear it back to camp unbuttoned which Natalie felt a bit bad for. Daryl didn't like other people to see his scars, hell he barely liked his brother seeing his scars let alone complete strangers.

"Looks like someone got some!" Amy yelled with a wolf whistle when she saw Natalie and Daryl walking towards where the Dixon's tents were set up at. "Go Nat!"

At that Natalie gave a bit of a laugh, to be young again like Amy and be so innocent and naive at times. Amy was a nice girl and Natalie really liked her but she knew through experience that soon enough Amy would have to change to be able to deal with the harsh situations of the world.

Daryl just glowered at that comment, "Fuckin' teenagers. No need to comment on our damn business." He stated with a growl and then headed towards their tent to get a new shirt.

Looking around camp Natalie saw Carol and Lori were sitting on a set of chairs folding some of the dry clothes from the laundry that they had done that day, giving a hesitant wave to them the two women smiled at her knowingly and gave waves right back. At least Natalie had those two and Amy to talk to and be friends with, she only needed one enemy and that space was taken up by Andrea who didn't like her because of who she was married to.

Not even realizing that she had gone off in her own daydream Natalie was startled by Daryl wrapping his arms around her, "Hey where were you?" he asked with a raised brow and gently kissed her neck.

"Just thinking is all," Natalie responded and leaned back and gave a quick kiss to his lips. "Where do you 'spose Marlie is at?" she asked.

Daryl nodded towards the quarry, "Asian kid said that Merle took her down by the water to teach her about fishing or somethin' like that." He said to her with a shrug, and ran his fingers just barely under her shirt. "Suppose it's better for him to stay busy down there teachin' Marlie stuff than him getting all drugged up and fightin' with everyone up here." He stated.

Craning her head a bit Natalie gave Daryl a pointed look, "FYI Daryl, the Asian kid's name is Glenn. Try and use it once in a while yeah?" she asked him.

Giving a sigh, "Yeah, yeah. I know." He said to her.

It wasn't that Daryl was racist really, he may have grown up with a racist father and brother and picked up on some of their phrases but he wasn't really racist….not deep down he wasn't. In fact Daryl was a genuinely caring person; it just took a lot for that to come out to light and the only ones who truly knew that small little fact about him was his family and both Daryl and Merle agree to not talk about that small fact.

"C'mon," Natalie said pulling bit away from her husband and looking into his eyes. "Let's go and get the two trouble makers, it's getting late and Marlie needs to clean up before we eat." She said to him.

Giving a nod in response to that, Daryl reached forward and intertwined his fingers with Natalie's and began to pull her towards the direction of where the quarry was located at but before they were able to walk all that far they were stopped by Shane calling out to the two of them.

"Hey!" Shane called out. "Natalie! Daryl! Can I talk to the two of ya for a second?" he asked as he carefully jogged up to the two of them. "It ain't gonna take too long, promise." He said when he noticed the disgruntled look on Daryl's face.

Scowling at the fact that Shane interrupted them Daryl gave a scowl at Shane and crossed his arms, "What do you want?" he asked stiffly.

When he said that Natalie gave Daryl a subtle elbow to the side and then gave a small, friendly smile to Shane. "What's up Shane?" she asked nicely. "We were just about to go and find Marlie and Merle."

From what Natalie could tell since she arrived at camp Shane was a pretty nice person and was looked at as the unofficial leader of camp, though she was still pissed over the fact that he won't do anything to save Carol from her quite obviously abusive husband. Even with that obvious flaw Shane has been nothing but pleasant and welcoming to both her and Marlie so she was going to be nice to him until he really fucked up.

"Look, umm," Shane said a bit hesitantly as he rubbed the back of his curly head. "I get that the two of you can take care of yourselves from the Walkers out there and everything, but you can't just go off whenever ya feel like it and not tell anyone how long you are planning on being gone." He said to them, he figured telling it to them bluntly was the best way to go rather than beating around the bush. "Just leaving whenever you want is giving people idea's and that's something I want to keep to a minimum, the majority of people here can't take care of themselves nearly was well as you two can and we would end up with a lot of bodies to take care of. So I'd appreciate it a mighty bit if you didn't just go on out without lettin' anyone know. If you get what I'm saying," he said ending his small lecture with a hopeful smile directed at both Natalie and Daryl.

For a moment neither Daryl or Natalie said much of anything; Daryl was glaring at Shane for what he said and Natalie was giving him an annoyed/amused look.

"Ya ain't the boss of us pig," Daryl said with narrowed eyes. "Not our fault that half these people are too stupid to realize that they can't handle being out there by 'emselves. Tell 'em they can't go out in the woods alone if you got to, but you ain't gonna be telling me and my wife what to do. We can protect ourselves unlike some of the people here." He responded with a fierce look on his face at what Shane wanted to make them do.

Gently Natalie laid a calming hand on Daryl's muscular triceps and then glanced at Shane with a raised brow, "So let me get this straight," she said to him with contained annoyance. "You want to make me and Daryl tell you whenever we are gonna head out to the woods and make sure we get back to camp within a certain amount of time?" she questioned.

Shane nodded, clearly not realizing that Natalie was annoyed with him. "Yes, you understand don't you?" he asked. "I am just looking out for the safety of everyone in camp. I don't want to lose anyone because of an accident."

Daryl glanced besides him at his wife and internally laughed, she had a tight half smile on her face and her brows were furrowed, there was no doubt about it that she was at least mildly annoyed with what Shane was saying.

"Shane," Natalie started as she let go of her husband's arm. "You have been more than kind to me and my daughter, and I appreciate that you let a complete stranger come into camp and stay here." She said to him. "But you do not control me or tell me what to do, the only person who would have a sliver of a chance at telling me what to do is this man right here," Natalie told him as she gestured to Daryl. "And even then it's a slim chance. I don't take well to being told what to do and when I can do it, and in fact when I was a teenager I would do the exact opposite of what you'd tell me." She pointed out to him.

Shane sucked in a deep breath when Natalie said that, "I wasn't trying to tell you two what to do, just –"

At that Daryl gave a bark of laughter, "Really? Well Cop it sure sounds like you was tryin' to tell us what to do and when we could do it." He stated and looked at Natalie. "I think he said that we needed to tell him when we left and tell them how long we planned on being gone. Sure fuckin' sound like controlling to me."

"Usually I am a genuinely nice person to damn near everyone," Natalie started as she looked at Shane. "But you are kinda starting to annoy me Shane. This is not elementary school where you are the principal and we have to ask to go to the bathroom," she told him and crossed her arms under her chest. "Please tell me we aren't going to be getting detention too are we?" she asked sarcastically.

"That's not how I meant it Natalie," Shane said with a frown on his face at how downhill the conversation was going. I just think ya'all should tell someone when you decide to go off somewhere and try and be back within a couple hours, unless ya are hunting I mean." He said quickly when he glanced over at Daryl. "You two may be able to take care of yourselves but if somethin' unexpected happens then a few of us could come out and help you."

Shane had thought that Natalie was the quieter and more reasonable one out of the two of them but apparently he made assumptions before really finding out what kind of person that Natalie was; it seems the woman was much more like her husband than Shane had thought. Natalie was fierce, wasn't afraid of saying what was on her mind and willing to go against the grain and make problems for Shane just like Daryl and Merle do.

"Sorry copper, but we are gonna come and go as we damn well please," Daryl said with a scowl on his face. "You aren't keeping us hostage here or none of that shit. If we are gonna go off and hunt, providing food for this camp, or go off and talk we're gonna damn well do it." He said to him fiercely, with fire in his eyes. "Anything else you need?"

"Nah," Shane said with a shake of his head. "We're done."

Once the two had left the vicinity Shane gave a sigh of relief that he didn't realize he was holding, that talk definitely could have gone much better than it did. He had hoped that Natalie would be on his side rather than Daryl's but he was wrong and he definitely was going to have to keep a close watch on the Dixon's from now on.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Not mine

A/N: I also redid this chapter a bit. i added more to the start of thechapter so if you read the first half you should get the new stuff. but it isnt a big deal if you don't read it.

Chapter fourteen

It's been about a week and a half since Natalie, Marlie and Daryl have been reunited with one and another and so far both Natalie and Marlie integrated themselves pretty well within the group. Some of the campers didn't like the Merle and Daryl all that much and because Natalie and Marlie were their family the camper's basically looked down on them for their relation. Natalie didn't care for the most part what they all thought of her, she spent too many years when she was younger wasting time on caring but what bothered her the most was when some of the parents of the kids told them to exclude and not play with Marlie. Thankfully Marlie didn't seem all that hurt, she mostly just played with Sophia, Carl, Louis and Eliza who were more than happy to play with her.

At the moment Natalie was near the water's edge with a few of the other women from camp doing some laundry which she learned was done twice a week. It was times like this where Natalie really missed her washer and dryer back home that had all those fancy options; it really would come in handy on some of the blood stains that Daryl somehow managed to get on every single pair of his pants. There was no doubt in Natalie's mind that a majority of the stains were either from Walkers or gutting animals that he had hunted down for the camp.

"I would love….love a washer right now," Natalie said as she scrubbed viciously at a blood stain that was on one of Daryl's pants. "How in the hell does my husband manage to get blood stains on damn near every single pair of his pants. I mean seriously, that's just ridiculous." She said with a shake of her head.

Hearing that Lori gave a small laugh, "Well he is a hunter," she pointed out to the younger woman. "Didn't he hunt a lot before all of this happened?" she asked waving her hands around.

Natalie nodded, "Yeah but only during the hunting season, and not to mention I had an amazing washer that could get almost any stain out." She stated with a shrug and sighed at the memory of her washer – some women wanted jewels and clothes for presents but not Natalie, she wanted appliances and new boots for camping.

Amy looked at Natalie with an odd look on her face, "So instead of fantasizing about having life like it was before Walkers you are wishing for a washing machine?" she questioned curiously.

"What can I say; I loved that fancy ass washer." Natalie said to her with a shrug which made her and a few of the other women laugh a bit. "I'm sure there are some modern appliances that you miss too." She pointed out.

At that Jacqui nodded, "I know I miss my car," she responded. "I had a sleek four wheel drive car with video for helping me back out. Mmhmm. That car was my pride and joy." She stated and closed her eyes and remembered the car.

While Jacqui was reminiscing about her car Natalie looked up the quarry and at T-Dog who was sitting in the back of the van that they were using to haul the laundry to and from the Quarry and back to camp so that they could hang them once they were clean . . . or rather as clean as they were going to get them.

"Hey T-Dog!" Natalie yelled up at the darker man. "How come you aren't down here helping us with some of these clothes?" she asked and glanced at him with a curious look on her face. "I know for a fact that some of these things are yours."

Amy nodded in agreement at that, "Yeah T-Dog, you and the guys of camp need to start helping with the 'woman' work." She said and used air quotes.

Hearing that Natalie scoffed, "Could you imagine Merle doing this?" she said and snorted in amusement at the thought of her brother in law doing laundry by hand, he would be growling and moaning the whole time and swearing up a storm about the fact that he had to wash clothes by hand.

"Oh dear lord," Amy said with a giggle. "That would be a sight. I would pay to see that." She said and then paused a moment to rethink that. "As long as I wouldn't get harmed by him for watching I would definitely pay to see that sight."

Andrea who has been sitting at the far end away from Natalie and has barely said anything to add to the conversations that they've been having, and she even rolled her eyes at what the group was talking about now.

"What do you say T-Dog?" Amy asked with a wide grin on her young face. "Want to come down and learn how to wash laundry by hand?"

T-Dog grinned at that and shook his head, "Nah I don't think I should step in, I mean I might mess up the system you girls have going on and not to mention I just got done doing watch and once you beautiful ladies are finished I am going to sleep for at least a few hours." He told them.

"Come on T-Dog," Lori said. "It's not like it will kill ya. The walkers are plenty happy to do that instead." She joked.

At that T-Dog scoffed, "Yeah thanks Lori, that sure made me want to help with laundry." He said dryly. "But, as tempting as the offer is, I still think I will let you lovely, wonderful and beautiful ladies do the laundry. Since you all are so skilled at it and much better than any man ever will be."

Natalie shook her head at that, "You are trying to be charming but I see right through those words T-Dog. You are a wuss, do ya hear me, a wuss." She said to him. "You just don't want people to know that you can do womanly things, other than cooking that is." She stated with an amused smirk on her face. "I definitely think you should get your manly ass down here and let us show you how to properly wash a shirt the old school way."

One thing that Natalie liked about T-Dog was the fact that he didn't mind joking around with her even in the Walker infested Apocalyptic world, it seemed that a lot of people back in camp were always so serious and a stick in the mud and it's not healthy to be like that twenty-four seven. No matter what though, T-Dog was always up for a good teasing. Even though Natalie was related to Merle who was a racist pig at times and Daryl who just didn't like anyone all that much, but still T-Dog over looked all of that which Natalie appreciated.

"You wonderful and quite talented women do it just so well, and I don't want to take your fun away," T-dog laughed.

"I wouldn't call this fun," Amy responded dryly as she wrung out a shirt and handed it to Jacqui.

T-Dog gave a half smile at that, "I could make one wrong move and then all of you would be on me like a fat kid to cake, and I'm not in the mood to get my ass kicked by a bunch of badass women." He responded.

Hearing that made Jacqui snort, "Yes, because we all look so strong." She said sarcastically and wrung out a few more shirts before grabbing one of the laundry baskets that they had, standing up and then giving it to T-Dog. "Here, be of use and put this in the back of the van."

"Okay, that's enough," Lori said who was sitting beside Natalie and scrubbing one of Carl's shirt's on the washboard. "We got a heck of a lot of clothes to do so let's try and not waste time." She said.

Childishly Natalie turned towards T-Dog and stuck her tongue out at him before she turned back to the pile of clothes that she had in front of her and gave a sigh; they were hers, Marlie's, Daryl's and Merle's and both Daryl and Merle's were the worst off but it was to be expected. Those boys never really did learn how to try and not get things dirty all of the time.

"You know," Jacqui started as she wrung out another shirt to add to one of the laundry baskets. "I would definitely kill for soap, any kind of soap. I just want my clothes to smell somewhat clean instead of like stale water." She stated with a sigh.

"God wouldn't that be a treat," Andrea said who was sitting as far away from Natalie as she possibly could, like it's not obvious that she wasn't a fan of Natalie. "Plain old water doesn't get the stains out like soap would."

Natalie scrubbed hard at a stain that was on one of Daryl's pants, "So there's like no soap at all?" she questioned curiously.

At that Lori shook her head, "No, none left whatsoever." She said with a grimace on her face. "We probably should have tried to manage our soap use a bit better when everything started but didn't realize how much we would go through and how little would be left to scavenge for."

"I did the same thing," Natalie admitted. "Not with soap or anything, I didn't really have much of that and the last few weeks I didn't even want to chance stopping to wash our clothes." She told them with a shrug. "But food wise, I did not plan ahead well enough. And I can't hunt all that well to tell the truth, so a lot of the food I did find usually went to Marlie."

Hearing that Andrea looked at Natalie skeptically, "But you're the hick's wife and you don't know how to hunt." She said with a judgmental tone of voice.

Narrowing her eyes at Andrea and taking a deep breath, Natalie responded. "The hick, as you call him, has a name. It's Daryl so try and use it." She said heatedly. "And I didn't say I couldn't hunt, I just said that I wasn't that great at it a am nowhere near the level of Daryl. I may be married to the man but it doesn't mean that we have every single thing in common."

This grudge, and or hatred that Andrea has for Natalie just because she is married to Daryl is getting really old, really fast and half of the time she is holding herself back from strangling the woman. The only reason she hasn't straight out bitch slapped the woman was because she would rather not cause problems in camp and because of Amy. You would think that a woman like Andrea wouldn't judge someone because of who they were married to or associated with but apparently Natalie was wrong, she had hoped after a few days that she would warm up to her but it wasn't to be so.

"You and your-" Before Andrea was able to say what was bound to be an insulting comment Lori interrupted.

"So," Lori started looking at Natalie as she was scrubbing quite harshly on a stain that was on a shirt. "How long have you and Daryl been together?" she questioned.

At that Natalie paused a moment to think how long they've been together, most days it seems like they've always been together and she barely can think of a time when they haven't been together. To Natalie, the moment she met Daryl was the start of her life and then once Marlie came around it was as if she had everything that she would ever wish for.

Smiling Natalie answered, "We've been together for about seven in a half years, give or take a few but we've been married for around five in a half or six." She answered. "We didn't get married until I was a few months pregnant with Marlie."

"Was it romantic?" Amy asked with an excited look on her face. "Is there a hopeless romantic under that rough and grr faced exterior that he puts on?" she asked jokingly and looking at her expectantly.

Natalie couldn't help but shake her head at Amy, it wasn't obvious at all that the girl was a teenager – all teenage girls love talking about weddings and imagining their own someday. Even with an apocalypse going on there would be no changing that fact. Natalie did it too when she was around fifteen/sixteen years old and gossiping with her friends.

Smiling Natalie answered Amy's question, "It was romantic for us and that's all that matters." She replied to her. "We didn't have a big extravagant wedding, or even have all that many people there. We just had the people who were important to us there. My mom, sister, brother in law and niece came down from Minnesota, my grandparents who lived over in Arizona came over, and then a friend or two from back home and some that I met here were there. Then of course Merle, and a few of the friends that Daryl had and that was it." She said with a serene smile remembering the day perfectly, one of the best days of her life.

"Your dad didn't come?" Amy asked with a curious look on her face.

At that Natalie gave a sad smile, "My dad died before I even found out I was pregnant," she told her.

Hearing that Amy gave an apologetic grimace, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have –"

"Dearie, you didn't even know about it." Natalie told her with an amused smile on her face. "It was a long time ago anyways. It's fine." She told her with a tight smile.

Natalie may have loved her dad, but she didn't always agree with his actions or things that he said all of the time. She always had conflicted feelings when it came to him; at times she loved him, other times she was bitter and angry and other times she just wanted to hit him upside the head. He wasn't the best dad around but he definitely wasn't the worst, especially when compared to her husband's father.

"Where was your wedding?" Jacqui asked curiously since none of the other women were saying anything.

"Near the woods that were behind our house," Natalie said with a smile on her face. "It was perfect. I had a simple white dress, a bouquet of colorful flowers that me and my friend picked up from the local grocery store that sold flowers and wore a pair of my high tops and I was good to go. It fit the two of us perfectly. I wouldn't have changed it for anything, and even if we had all of the money in the world I would have still had our intimate wedding compared to an extravagant one any day. The only one who really needed to be there was Daryl, it could have just been him, me, Merle and my sister and I would have been perfectly happy and content."

Natalie really would have too, even if she had all the money in the world to have any kind of wedding she wanted she would still have chosen the one she had with Daryl in the back yard near the woods. It was intimate, beautiful and wonderful. She had a simple white dress that was technically not even a wedding dress and she wore her favorite high tops that were a bit scuffed; and Daryl had worn his nicest pants, and a shirt that didn't have the arms ripped off, even a tie which was more than Natalie was expecting. Even though neither of them dressed up all the way like the Bride and Groom are supposed to do on their wedding days it fit them.

Hearing all of that made Amy smile, "So tell us about the honey moon," she said with a waggle of her eye brows.

"Amy," Jacqui said admonishingly and shook her head at the younger girl. "Give the woman time to think, you're shooting question after question at her." she stated and then looked at Natalie, "You don't have to tell us anything you know. If you don't want to." She told her.

"Hey!" Amy said looking at her. "I want to hear some juicy details, there isn't anyone here in camp that can be my eye candy or even have the possibility of dating so I'm living through you people." She told her.

At that Lori shook her head, "Teenagers these days." She joked.

Shrugging Natalie went on with what she was saying, "Our honey moon was one of the best vacations I've ever had, Daryl planned it all out by himself and wanted it to be as romantic as he possibly could make it." She started but was soon interrupted by Andrea.

"What kind of Redneck can afford a Honeymoon?" Andrea asked snidely.

Before Natalie responded to that she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then counted to ten, "For your information Andrea," Natalie said harshly to the other blonde woman. "I was perfectly happy with my life that Daryl and I had together. It may not be up to your standards and you may look down on my family because of the redneck tendencies we have but we're happy being like that and that is all that matters." She told her. "Some-" she stopped herself before she could say something nasty, she did not want to get into another fight with Andrea she's been trying to keep those to a minimum.

Andrea looked at Natalie, "Go on, finish what you were saying." She said to her with a wave of her hand."

"No," Natalie said with a shake of her head. "It doesn't matter." She told her and then looked at Amy, Lori and Jacqui. "Anywho as I was saying," she said with a quick glance at Andrea before continuing on with what she was saying. "Daryl planned a trip to New Orleans, I've always wanted to go there but never have been able to reason with myself a good reason to go out there but Daryl, the damn secretive bastard, planned our honey moon there." She said with a soft smile on her f ace in reference to her husband and the trip that he planned for her.

"Did you go during Mardi Gras?" Amy asked with a grin as she wiped at a bit of water that splashed up onto her face.

Natalie smiled at that and scrubbed harshly at a stain that was on one of her shirts that she really liked, it was plaid and she loved plaid. "No we didn't go during Mardi Gras, and in fact we didn't even make it into Louisiana." She said to her. "We took my car, which was a 1968 GTO but when we were on our way there and a few states over my car decided to break down. We were in a smaller town in Mississippi and what needed to be done to my car required a car part that was hard to come by, and even if we had been in a bigger town there would have been a mighty bit of issues trying to get the part. Finding car parts for classic muscle cars is expensive and can be hard to do," she explained to them and wiped at her sweaty brow, it was hot out there by the water. "We got it to a mechanic and they said that it would be at least a week or two before they were able to get the part, so we ended up staying in that town…Waynesboro. It was an amazing honeymoon."

Hearing that all of the girls looked at Natalie skeptically, wondering how their car breaking down in a small town equaled an amazing honeymoon but to each their own. Amy thought it sounded downright boring, to be stuck in a small town when they had originally been planning on going to New Orleans.

"No offense hun," Jacqui started as she handed another basket to T-Dog who was basically sleeping in the back of the van. "But that doesn't sound like an amazing time; it actually sounds like a terrible honeymoon."

When she said that to her Natalie couldn't help but laugh, "It might have been to most people but it was one of the few times that we were able to spend alone together….just the two of us." She replied. "No Merle to interrupt us for the ten thousandth time, and trust me after the third or fourth time of him interrupting us during sex it just got annoying rather than embarrassing. No work calling us in or something along those lines and just complete 'us' time. It was one of the best couple of weeks I've ever had."

"What did you two do there?" Lori asked. "Other than the obvious." She said with a girlish giggle.

Natalie grinned at that, "Oh we spent a lot of time in the bedroom," she said with a waggle of her eye brows. "But we really just spent time together, the parks, the woods, they had a small thing going on in town, like a fair or something so we went to that." She told her. "It was an art/music festival it was amazing there. But for the most part it was just the two of us talking, enjoying one and another's company and talking about the future. About the baby, thinking of names, what we needed to have done before she was born and things like that."

"It sounds like you had a good time then," Jacqui said to her with a small smile pointed towards the younger woman.

"It was, the best." Natalie responded.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: None of the characters of the walking dead are mine, as much as i would love to have my own personal Daryl Dixon.

A/N: I know it has been waaaaaaaaay too long and i am sorry. But i wrote you all a longer chapter to make up for not doing much writing lately.

A/N2: I also got a new tattoo on tuesday, jsut wanted to share that with you all. It;s a dreamcatcher with a cherokee rose, i;ve always loved dreamcatchers and even have one above my bed. I am such a dork.

Chapter fifteen

Once back at the main camp site area the women separated and started to hang the freshly washed clothes up on the home made clotheslines that were scattered about within the camp; the clotheslines were really made out of whatever they could get their hands on that could be used to hang clothes on like twine, fishing line and even a few of the low hanging tree branches.

"You know," Lori said glancing over at Natalie as the two of them started to hang some of the clothes on one of the clotheslines in camp. "You are one of the lucky ones out there, being able to survive for so long by yourself and being able to keep your daughter alive with only yourself to count on. You have so much strength in you, strength that I can only dream of having." She admitted to her.

When Lori said that Natalie shook her head and grabbed a handful of the damp, clean clothes to put up on one of the lines and dry. "I did what any mother or wife would do, it wasn't just me who needed to survive but Marlie too. Her safety was my main concern, and to tell the truth the only thing that kept me strong and made me not give up was the thought of being reunited with Daryl again. Daryl is my strength." She told her simply and shook out one of Daryl's sleeveless plaid shirts and pinned it up on the line. "It wasn't luck that kept me alive, but the need to survive and having someone depending on me to keep them safe. Marlie kept me safe just as much as I kept her safe."

And Natalie was serious about that too, if she hadn't of had Marlie with her when all hell broke loose and didn't have her depending on her Natalie wasn't sure if she would have made it out of Arizona alive, let alone all the way to Georgia and back to Daryl. Marlie has helped her so much while they were traveling alone, she let her know if she heard any Walkers around, she saved her from nearly being violated by some of the people they had been with and so many other things. Marlie gave her hope.

Lori glanced over the clothes line at Natalie with a soft smile on her face, "But you are lucky Natalie, you really are." She told her sincerely.

"How's that exactly?" Natalie asked as she threw a few more of the clean and damp clothes over her shoulder. "I think everyone is pretty even with the sucky life situation, I mean with dead people walking around and trying to take a bite out of every living thing they see. Not exactly the ideal living situation."

At that Lori couldn't help but laugh a bit, Natalie seemed to try and bring humor into even the darkest of situations. "You're lucky because you still have your husband and daughter." She stated to the younger woman. "You did so much and travelled so far just to reunite yourself and your daughter with Daryl," she paused a moment. "And Merle." She added as an afterthought, and gave a tight, sad smile to Natalie. "I wasn't that lucky."

When Lori said that Natalie paused in what she was doing and looked over at the dark haired woman with furrowed brows, "What do you mean by that?" she asked in concern and studied the dark haired woman closely. "Something happened when this happened didn't it? You lost someone?"

"Yes," Lori said with a sharp nod of her head and avoided Natalie's piercing gaze. "I lost my husband, he was killed back in Kings County where he worked as a police officer but there was an accident and he was shot." She started.

Briefly Natalie closed her eyes, "He was killed in the line of duty?" she asked cautiously.

"No," Lori said with a quickly shake of her head. "He was shot but went into a coma but his condition was stable," she explained. "But when they were evacuating the towns and getting people out, the electricity went out and he ended up dying because of that . . . . . . some of the machines that he was hooked up to were keeping him alive and with the power going out it-"

Natalie interrupted her before Lori could break down from the memories, "It wasn't able to keep him alive anymore." She said solemnly. "I'm sorry Lori, about you losing your husband and me basically flaunting my reuniting with my family in your face." She said apologetically.

At that Lori waved her hand at Natalie, "Don't be sorry, don't ever be sorry about reuniting with your family; believe me, I am happy for you, Daryl and Marlie…and even Merle." She said to her, even if she wasn't that big of a fan of Merle's and sometimes Daryl. "It's sad to say but I was losing my husband even before Walkers started popping up everywhere, we were having problems and sadly a good majority of the problems were my fault. I said things that I didn't mean or that I said to just get a reaction out of him, and said hurtful things to him in front of Carl." She said sadly and closed her eyes for a moment. "There are so many things that I regret, and now I can't fix them."

"I'm sorry Lori," Natalie repeated once again and gently grasped supportively onto Lori's hand whom was standing across from her. "I know there is nothing I can do that will make things better or make you feel better, and that would basically be dishonoring your husband but I am here for you…ya know….if ya wanna talk about how unfair life is and all that fun stuff." She told her with a half-smile.

When Natalie said that Lori blinked away the tears that were forming and gave an amused smile at Natalie, "Thank you, I really do appreciate it. The only person who I've really talked in depth about Rick with is Shane…he was Rick's best friend." She said and just as Natalie was about to respond to that Lori took a deep breath and gave a wide smile to Natalie. "Now let's not be talkin' about such sad things, I'm sick of being sad and we have enough of that going on in the world right now.

Laughing Natalie shook out one of her few pairs of pants and pinned it up on the clothesline, "And what…Ms. Lori would you rather be talking about then?" she asked playfully.

"You and Daryl." Lori said to her.

Hearing that Natalie glanced at Lori with a raised brow, "Me and Daryl?" she questioned, making sure she heard right. "Why would you want to hear about us? We aren't that interesting."

That made Lori give a very unfeminine snort of amusement, "Are you kidding me?" she asked glancing at Natalie. "Neither Daryl or Merle have shared much of anything with us, the only thing they've said is that they were hunters and trackers, and basically lived in the woods all of the time and that we needed them if we wanted to survive more than a week out here."

That did sound like something her husband and brother in law would say; Natalie knew from experience that neither Daryl nor Merle were very big talkers and didn't like to share their personal lives with anyone really and the only exception to that small fact was Natalie. Natalie was an enigma to the two Dixon boys, and seemed to have wormed her way under their skin and in their hearts.

Knowing Merle as Natalie did, the camp was damn lucky that Merle hadn't convinced Daryl to rob the camp of their supplies and get the hell out of dodge – when Merle got on his drugs and started acting like an ass he could be very convincing.

"They aren't the biggest sharers in the world, and aren't too keen on having heart to hears even when it's with one and another," Natalie admitted and gave a huff of annoyance as she pushed back a good chunk of hair that seemed to have made its way out of the braid that she tossed her long messy hair in.

Lori gave an amused smile at the thought of Daryl and Merle having a heart to heart with one and another; it would be like seeing a yeti in a Georgia summer. "You and Daryl, the two of you seem to genuinely love one and another." She stated.

Natalie grinned at that, "Yeah we do, for how opposite we seem at times we mesh well together." She told her and couldn't help but continue grinning. "But even with all of the good times we've had, there have been bad times too just like any other relationship out there. He tried to break up with me once." She admitted to Lori.

"What?!" Lori asked in shock, "But he's so intense and it's obvious to see that he loves you more than anything."

Nodding Natalie put the last few articles of clothes onto the clothesline, "He does, I love him more than he realizes I think." She told her and sighed. "But because of certain things that happened in Daryl's life, he thought that he didn't deserve me and tried to break up with me. And if it wasn't for Merle, I don't think either me or Daryl would be together and married right now with a six year old daughter. Some of the things that Daryl said to get me to let him go and to break up with him were pretty harsh but when Merle found out, he drove to my work when I was getting off and basically explained everything and dragged me to his and Daryl's place and left me there while he went who knows where. So I was stranded in their house until Daryl came home." She said and gave a smile.

"So what happened when he finally came home?" Lori asked curiously.

"Oh man," Natalie said with a shake of her head, "Did he blow a gasket when he saw me sitting there in the living room – god I probably looked freaked out as hell and awkward." She said reminiscing about the day and shaking her head. "He yelled and whatnot and I said there quiet as he yelled before I finally spoke up and told him what Merle said to me and told him that he couldn't push me away. I told him that I won't allow him to do that to me, not when I was finally happy with my life and I told Daryl that he needed to give me a damn good reason to break up with me if he wanted me to give up on him." Natalie said to Lori and glanced around camp and saw Merle sitting on the very edge of camp lounging on one of the camp chairs they had before turning back to Lori. "He didn't have a good reason and I wasn't going to give up on him, I'm too stubborn to give up easily." She said with a smirk on her face.

Lori smiled at that; Natalie and Daryl were young but they loved one and another so intensely. Lori was slightly jealous of the intensity that they had, she and Rick had that at one time, when they first started dating in high school and again when they had first got married but over the years they lost that fire. Now she regrets not reliving that passion that they once had, not trying to reignite that love they had for one and another.

"C'mon," Natalie said as she and Lori grabbed some more clothes and moved over to another clothes line that was in camp. "Tell me about you and how Rick wooed you," she said with a waggle of her eye brows.

Just as Lori was about to open her mouth and respond to that comment, she glanced over Natalie's shoulder and saw Daryl and Marlie walking farther into camp. Earlier in the day when Natalie had volunteered to help wash clothes Daryl had taken Marlie to help her with some school work and then went off to do whatever it is that Daryl does when he isn't out hunting or with his brother.

Lori gave a small smile and then looked at Natalie and nodded her head towards where Daryl and Marlie were walking, "How about we have a rain check for that conversation," she told her.

Glancing behind where she was standing Natalie gave a wide grin when she saw her husband and daughter walking towards her hand in hand; turning to look back at Lori she gave her a hopeful look. "You won't mind if I –" she said and nodded towards her family.

"Go on," Lori said and grabbed the clothes that Natalie had in her hands and basically pushed Natalie away and towards her husband. "You've been helping us for a few hours, I think you can go and spend some time with your family."

Giving a smile of appreciation Natalie handed off the rest of the clothes to Lori, "Thank you," she said sincerely.

With that said Natalie left Lori to hanging the rest of the clothes on the handmade clothesline and then headed towards Marlie who was talking animatedly to her father and then Natalie looked at Daryl who was still covered in filth and was desperately needing a washing in the quarry – one way or another she was going to get him somewhat cleaned that day. No doubts about it.

The moment that Marlie spotted her mom she grinned widely and started to run towards her, and still clutched onto the notebook that she had in her hands. "Mama!" she said excitedly.

Giving a smile Natalie crouched down and caught Marlie in her arms, spun her around a bit before setting her back down on the ground and then crouched in front of her and pushed a bit of her messy curly hair behind one of her ears. "Hey Dearie," Natalie said to her daughter. "Did you and daddy have fun?" she asked curiously. "You two did work on some of the school work stuff, right?" she asked skeptically and glanced up at her husband with squinted eyes.

"Don't ya be worryin' about that," Daryl said to her in his deep tone of voice. "I ain't forgetting about that stuff." He told her. "I know that ya want her to learn and all that kind of shit."

Marlie smiled, "We did do that stuff," she piped into the conversation. "See! Look what I did!" she said looking at her mother excitedly.

Looking away from her husband with a half smirk on her face Natalie looked down at the notebook and saw some spelling words on there that Daryl obviously had her try spelling and then using in sentences; flipping through some of the other pages Natalie saw that there was even some math work in there.

Smiling Natalie leaned down and kissed Marlie on the forehead, "Well aren't you my little genius," she said to her before getting up from her crouched position, she was getting too old to be doing that all of the time.

"Am I gonna be smarts like you and daddy are?" Marlie asked as she looked up at her mother with wide eyes and a grin that nearly spread across her whole face.

Natalie gently tapped Marlie on the head, "Smarter even I bet." She said with a wink which made Marlie giggle a bit.

"I love you mom." Marlie said to her suddenly and gave a quick hug to her legs.

"Love ya too Mar," Natalie told her, she would never get tired of hearing her daughter say that to her.

Motherhood changes you, and as young as Natalie was when she got pregnant, or at least young in her eyes, she has more than enjoyed being a mother and has met every challenge head on. Being a mother is one of Natalie's proudest moments and she wouldn't give it up for anything.

Looking at her husband Natalie smiled, "Hey smexy man," she said with hooded eyes and then grasped onto the belt loops of Daryl's pants, pulled herself closer to him and quickly gave him a kiss, short but passionate nonetheless. "Where've you been all my life?" she questioned teasingly.

"Lookin' for your ass, ya crazy woman." Daryl said to her gruffly before kissing her one last time and pulling away and looking around camp with a somewhat scowl on his face when he made eye contact with the other campers who were staring at the three Dixon's.

Natalie smirked at Daryl, "I love it when you talk dirty to me," she whispered into his ear and gently blew into it.

Internally groaning Daryl shook his head at his wife, how in the world he ended up with her he never knew, the woman enjoyed torturing and teasing him way too much. But he loved her even with all of that put together.

"Stop bein' bad, Jesus woman." Daryl said. "We ain't got time today to have fun like you and I both want." He said softly so that Marlie wouldn't hear and stared into Natalie's deep, dark brown eyes.

Smiling to herself Natalie nodded, "Right, sorry. I'll try and control myself around you." She apologized but not really meaning it, she loved teasing Daryl whenever she had the chance to do so.

Marlie bounced on her feet and looked between her parents for a few moments before she looked at her dad and tugged on the end of his shirt to gain his attention, she's been waiting since that morning to reveal the surprise to her mom. It's a surprise that she's been able to hold the surprise in this long.

"Yeah, Mar?" Daryl questioned. "What is it?" he asked.

She looked up at him with a smile, "Is it time, is it time?" she asked happily. "Can we show mama now?"

Hearing that Natalie looked between her husband and daughter suspiciously, "Can we show mama what?" she asked, and then raised her brow at her husband and looked at him expectantly. "Did you guys do something?"

Daryl looked down at his daughter with a small, very Daryl smile, before nodding his head at her and then looking at Natalie. The surprise he had for Natalie was something that he did for her before the dead started walking around the streets, Daryl was going to give it to Natalie when she came back from visiting her grandparents in Arizona but obviously that wasn't possible. It was supposed to have been her birthday present.

"Daryl," Natalie said giving her husband a questioning look, "Marlie, what are you two talking about?" she asked hesitantly.

When Natalie said that Marlie looked from her mother and then over at her dad with hopeful blue eyes, which Daryl responded to by giving a small laugh and gestured towards where their tent was located at. "What are ya waitin' for girlie, let's go and show mama what we got." He said.

While Marlie skipped ahead towards their tent Natalie looked beside herself at Daryl with curious eyes, wondering what exactly her husband and daughter were talking about and Natalie was starting to think that they were plotting something against her to tell the truth. You can never be too sure when it comes to Dixon's.

"Well if it ain't the rest of the Dixon clan," The obvious raspy voice of Merle rang out as Marlie, Natalie and Daryl approached where the family's tents were located at near the edge of camp – away from the rest of the people in camp.

Natalie gave an amused grin in her brother in law's direction, "Well if it ain't the lone, mangy wolf." She joked.

At that Merle leaned back in his folding chair, "Now come on spitfire, I ain't mangy. Tons of women would jump at the chance to have a bit of ole Merle, and they def'nitely wouldn't be goin' for mangy. I'm the pick of the bunch." He said to her.

"Sure ya are Merle," Daryl spoke. "That why you be havin' so much luck with that icy blonde?" he asked rhetorically.

Merle gave a glare at that, "Damn fuckin' carpet muncher." He swore and glanced over in the direction of where Andrea was at with her younger sister Amy.

When Merle said that Natalie slapped him upside the head, "Watch what you are saying,"' she said and crossed her arms. "I don't need my daughter to be picking up bad phrases from you."

"Mar?" Merle questioned and then playfully looked at his niece who was standing beside Natalie and Daryl, practically dancing in place from the excitement she was feeling. "You been avoidin' your ol' uncle Merle. Hmm? That it?"

At that Marlie giggled a bit and jumped forward and threw herself at her uncle and happily wrapped her arms around his neck tightly to which Merle responded by hugging the six year old back and giving a soft kiss into her curls. "I'm never avoiding you uncle Merle. I love you as much as I love hello kitty!" she said waving her arms around and sitting on her uncle's lap. "And I love hello kitty a lot…a lot….a lot. You was not anywhere when I got up. I was gonna ask ya to come with me and daddy." She said with a slight pout on her face.

Merle gave a deep laugh at that and messed up Marlie's hair a bit, "Your uncle Merle was out lookin' for some food to hunt down for us to eat, but I didn't have no luck out there in them damn woods." He said and gestured behind him towards the woods.

When Merle had said that both Natalie and Daryl gave a quick glance at one and another, the two of them both knew that Merle had really gone out to the woods with his stash of drugs so that he could get high without anyone else seeing him. If only someone would knock some sense into the older man, that would just be wonderful.

"Awe," Marlie said sadly to her uncle. "Next time ya gotta bring daddy." She said matter of a factly, which made all the adults smile a bit. "He's always findin' food."

Merle gently moved Marlie off of his lap and stood her in front of where he was sitting, "I should bring you next time, I bet ya are a good luck charm." He said and barely squeezed her cheek lovingly. "I don't think ya mama or dad would like that very much." He said as he glanced at Natalie and Daryl and stage whispered to Marlie. "Parents don't have no sense of adventure."

Marlie giggled at her uncle, "You're funny uncle Merle." She said to him and then turned to her dad once again. "Is it time?" she asked bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Daryl nodded, "Yeah head on in but don't get anything out yet." He said to her to which Marlie squealed happily.

"The surprise?" Merle asked gesturing to Natalie and then the tent that was a bit away from where he and his tent were situated at.

"Yeah," Daryl said with a nod and then ran his hands through his hair that was just starting to grow a bit long.

Hearing that Merle smiled and then looked at Natalie with a shit eating grin, "Ya better appre'cate what my baby bro did for ya." Merle joked to her. "Ya are gonna love it." He told her.

"Anyone care to tell me what his surprise is exactly?" Natalie asked and crossed her arms under her chest.

"Nah," Daryl said to her. "Where's the fun in that?" he asked. "You are gonna have to find out the old fashion way."

At that Natalie gave a heavy sigh, "You are a cruel, cruel husband Daryl Dixon." She said and gave a halfhearted glare.

Both Merle and Daryl knew that secretly Natalie truly did enjoy surprises and being surprised; she just didn't like to admit it. One time, within Daryl and Natalie's first few months of dating Daryl surprised Natalie at one of her jobs that she had with a colorful dyed flowers – he knew her love of bright colors; and said they were going on a trip to some woods a few hours away for the two of them to spend some alone time camping. She acted all embarrassed for him coming to her work but secretly Natalie loved it.

"Mom! Dad!" Marlie called from within their tent. "Come on!" she said impatiently. "I wanna give mama her stuff."

Daryl shook his head at the tent and then at Natalie, "She gets that from your side of the family." He stated and then grabbed onto Natalie's hand.

Merle grinned, "If ya two don't get your asses in there she's just gonna give away what the stuff is rather than let ya surprise the woman." He said with a pointed look. "So go on and get your asses in the tent already."

Smiling to herself Natalie and Daryl moved towards their tent, "Pushy one." She said and opened the flap of her family's tent and went to sit on the makeshift bed her and Daryl shared and smiled in amusement at her daughter's excited face who was sitting on the cot that was her bed.

Entering the tent Daryl looked between the two most important females in his life and smiled for a moment and just took the image of them in and cherished what he had, and how lucky he was to have the family that he had. Even Merle who was more trouble than he was really worth at times. He never imagined his life to include a wife and a daughter, but he is more than thankful that he had them. Natalie and Marlie were his world, and were more than worth fighting for.

"Daaaaad!" Marlie said looking up at him with her puppy dog eyes. "Come on, it's time for the surprise." She stated and clapped her hands a bit.

Shaking his head at his daughter Daryl made his way over to the small, cramped area that they had some of their belongings located at and dug around behind where they had a few spare sheets and clothes that weren't dirty enough to be washed yet. Grasping at a small wrapped cloth, he got up from his crouched position and then sat down besides Natalie and gently pressed the present into her hands.

Looking down at her hands Natalie couldn't help but give a laugh at the wrapping that Daryl and Marlie had used; it was most definitely one of Daryl's shirts. It was a tad bit ripped, a little dirty and had no sleeves on it and more than likely had a bit of blood on it.

"I love the wrapping," Natalie said with barely concealed amusement.

Marlie grinned, "Daddy did that," she said proudly.

Natalie smiled softly, "I can tell." She said and then looked at her husband with a smile.

When Natalie looked at him Daryl gave a half shrug, "Ain't like wrappin' paper was on my list of things to grab when me and Merle went scavenging for supplies." He reasoned.

"I love it," Natalie said and gently cupped is face with one of her hands and kissed his scruffy face. "It reminds me of the first present you got me, only not newspaper." She said with a playful smile on her face.

Marlie jumped from her cot and sat cross legged right at her mother's feet, bounced on her legs and looked up at her hopefully. "Open it! Open it!" she begged.

Smiling at her daughter, Natalie eyed Daryl's shirt that was being used as wrapping paper and carefully untied it though untying it was the hard part – Daryl was a hunter he could tie a damn good knot when he wanted to. Once Natalie had managed to open the makeshift wrapping her eyes widened at what she saw laying in the shirt; carefully grasping the object Natalie held it up to look at it closely.

What had been wrapped up in the shirt was a dream catcher, and from what Natalie could tell it was a handmade dream catcher – it was simple but beautiful. The string that was used to make the ties and crisscross designs of it look to be fishing line, there were turquoise and deep red beads worked onto the line and three beautiful feathers that were hanging down from the natural wood of the dream catcher. It was beautiful.

"What do you think mama?" Marlie asked curiously. "Do you like it?"

For a few moments Natalie said nothing but smile down at the dream catcher, she was at a loss of words. No one in her life has ever made or even bought her a handmade dream catcher.

Taking a deep breath Natalie looked at her daughter and husband, "I more than like it," she said to her. "I love it. It's one of the most beautiful things that I've ever gotten before."

"Dad made it all by himself," Marlie piped up. "I got to pick out the feathers and beads, but daddy said it was a real complicatin' proc…process to make such a big one so I couldn't help." She said a bit sadly. "But he's gonna teach me to make a smaller one."

Hearing that Natalie smiled at her daughter, "That's nice of him," she said and then turned to look at Daryl with a soft, tender look on her face. "You made this?" she questioned, and gave him a fond look. "By hand?"

When she asked that Daryl gave a sharp nod, "Yeah, it ain't nothin' really. It's nothin' too expensive or anything; got the wood from the back yard, and used the fishing line in the garage to make the web of the dream catcher, the only things I really had to buy were the beads and the feathers." He said and shrugged. "It's nothin' expensive but-"

"I love it," Natalie said, interrupting her husband, leaning forward and kissing Daryl on the lips. "It's beautiful." She told him and wrapped the arm that wasn't holding the dream catcher around Daryl's neck and pulled him in for a quick, passionate kiss.

Daryl grinned into the kiss and gently laid his hand on Natalie's hip and moved a bit closer, subconsciously he knew that they couldn't push this much farther because of the lack of privacy in camp and because of Marlie being right there but it doesn't mean he can't give his wife a good kissing.

"Mama! Dad! Stop it," Marlie said making a face at the fact that her parents were basically making out right in front of her, she knew that they loved each other but they didn't need to act like high schoolers, at least that's how her uncle described them as.

Reluctantly pulling away Natalie messed up her daughter's hair, "You little devil, you." She said to Marlie lovingly. "I love the gift, it's wonderful." She said looking at her husband and daughter sincerely.

"Not done yet," Daryl said to her and then fished something out of his pants pocket before he opened his hand and revealed a ring in his hand, it was turquoise colored and the turquoise stone itself was about the size of a quarter but slimmer. "Got this for you too." He said and grabbed her right hand and slid the ring onto her middle finger.

Looking at her husband and daughter, she blinked a few sentimental tears away, "It's not that I don't love the gifts, because I really do they are wonderful, but why exactly are you giving me gifts?" she questioned as she gently moved the dream catcher from her lap to the head of her's and Daryl's bed.

At that Daryl gave a wolfish smile, "You haven't been lookin' at a calendar lately have ya?" he asked.

Shaking her head no, Natalie looked at Daryl. "Why?" she asked.

"Happy late Birthday Nat," Daryl said and gently leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Natalie's lips before pulling away and looking into her dark brown eyes.

"Surprise!" Marlie all but screamed with a smile on your face. "Me and daddy decided to have a late celebration with you mommy," she told her. "Dad said we've never missed a birthday and that we aren't 'bout to start now." Marlie told her proudly.

Birthdays were things that Natalie thought were of the past; killing and avoiding walkers and trying to survive one more day seemed to be more important than celebrating people becoming one more year older. But small things like this, like her husband and daughter giving her presents and having their own small celebration is what makes everything worth it. It gives Natalie a small piece of happiness in this chaotic world.

"Thank you so much," Natalie said and leaned forward and kissed Marlie on the forehead before leaning towards Daryl and just wrapping her one arm around his neck and pressing herself against his side lovingly. "Really, thank you."

"Guessin' ya like it then?" Daryl asked with an amused smile on his face.

At that Natalie pulled away and gently pushed him, "Duh," she said with a roll of her eyes.

Marlie looked between her parents before she smiled happily that her mother liked the gifts that she and her dad gave her, she then went over to where her backpack was and grabbed few things out of it before heading towards the opening of the tent.

Natalie glanced at her daughter from her position on the bed "And where are you going exactly missy?" she asked with a raised brow.

"I'm gonna color for a while and see if Sophia and Amy want to help me," Marlie said to her mother. "I finished up all my chores already, dad made sure too." She said and looked at her dad and mom hopefully. "Please can I?" she asked.

Natalie and Daryl looked at one and another before Daryl looked at Marlie and nodded, "Ya go on ya lil' devil. Be sure to stay in sight and if ya be goin' anywhere with someone tell uncle Merle. Ya hear?" he stated.

Happily Marlie nodded before she gave her mom and dad a kiss and then practically ran out of the tent in search of Amy and Sophia.

"Can I just sleep now?" Natalie asked rhetorically.

Giving a sigh Daryl pushed himself up and off of the bed, and then in turn pulled Natalie up so that she was standing beside him and only Marlie was the one who was sitting on the ground.

"We can't stay in here all day can we?" Natalie asked with a slight grimace on her face.

Daryl smiled at that, "Ya know we can't, damn fuckin' cop will come a knockin' and get on our asses about not helpin' out around camp or some shit like that." He said to her with an annoyed glance towards the opening of the tent. "Can't make that one happy."

Sighing gave a wishful look around their tent, oh how Natalie would love to spend the rest of her day laying around with her daughter and husband in the tent and just spending time together as a family. Just like they used to do back at their house, Saturday mornings, or at least the Saturdays that Natalie didn't have to work Marlie would wake up early and crawl into bed with Daryl and Natalie and the three of them would lay in bed until seven or eight and have breakfast. It was simple but memorable.

"Come hunting," Daryl said simply and looked at Natalie.

Natalie smiled at the way Daryl kind of ordered but kind of asked her to go hunting with him, "I think I can manage that." She told him with a smile and then looked towards the opening of the tent. "He's getting worse." She said quietly so that Merle wouldn't hear what they were saying.

Daryl gave a tight lipped look and nodded tensely, "Yeah, I know." He said and glanced out the tent before shaking his head and looking at Natalie. "Ain't nothin' we can do about that now. Both know he's not about to quit anytime soon." He said to her.

"When he runs out it's gonna get really bad," Natalie told him seriously. "It's not going to be a pretty sight…..he could get dangerous Daryl. Even to people he cares about." She said, worrying about how her brother in law is going to react when he eventually does go through drug withdrawal.

In response to that Daryl shrugged, "Can't do anything until it starts happening." He told her.

"I know," Natalie said in understanding.

Daryl gently grasped Natalie's chin and tilted her head up so that he could look into her face, "Now come on, lets you and me go hunting and catch some squirrels to eat and make a stew out of."

When Daryl said that Natalie gave a somewhat forced smile, "Yay…squirrels. We sure are eating fancy." She said to him.

"Better than eatin' beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner." Daryl pointed out.

Natalie gave a laugh at that, "Can't argue with that," she told him. "Too bad we can't get a deer or something. I would love some me some venison right now." She said and closed her eyes fantasizing about having said meat. "Oooh, Merle's venison burgers. Now that would be heaven."

In response to that Daryl shook his head, "Come on," he said as he grabbed his cross bow and arrows, "Let's get goin' it's prime squirrel hunting time." He told her.

"If you say so," Natalie said as with an amused smile on her face and grabbed her recurve bow and swung it over one shoulder and then her quiver of arrows, then strapped her mini-machete to her leg and nodded at Daryl. "Lead the way, my dearest smexy redneck husband of mine."

Daryl shook his head at her but smiled nonetheless, "Get your hot ass out there ya Yankee," he said and playfully slapped her on the ass, it wasn't enough to hurt but hard enough to sting enough.

"Oooh Daryl," Natalie said with a waggle of her eyebrows as she moved towards the exit. "Don't excite me, we don't have time for that. Or so says you." She told him huskily.

When Natalie said that to him Daryl closed his eyes and counted to five for a moment before he responded to her, "You are going to be the death of me woman," he said as she followed her outside.

"But it would be an enjoyable death," Natalie said and winked at him.

As Natalie and Daryl bantered back and forth with one and another Merle glanced in their direction but mostly kept his gaze to the woods and the sky; some days he wondered what his life would be like if he had been lucky enough to find a woman like Daryl had been able to, one that was willing to put up with all of his shit, and his anger and family life problems. He wondered if he would be a different person if he would have stayed and protected Daryl form their father, he wondered if he would have been a different person if he wouldn't have become addicted to drugs and become a dealer. All of the what if's in the world won't change what already has happened though.

"Merle…Merle, did you hear me?" Natalie asked as she looked down at her brother n law and repeated his name for the fifth time.

Merle shook his head and looked up at Natalie with one eye closed to block out the sun, "What do ya want woman geeze? I thought you only nagged Daryl." He joked. "I don't; remember agreeing to letting you nag me when you married my baby bro."

"Did ya or didn't ya Merle?" Daryl asked as he shifted his cross bow on his shoulder.

"What's goin' on?" Merle asked with a heavy sigh. "What do ya two need from the wise old Merle now?"

Hearing him refer to himself as that Natalie gave a short snort of amusement, "I want you to look out for Marlie," she told him. "Just keep an eye on her and if you don't see or hear from her for a while go and make sure she's doing okay." She told him. "If you don't want to watch her just have Amy."

"Ya, ya I can do that." Merle said off hand.

"Mean it Merle," Daryl spoke. "Keep an eye on her, don't fuck up or do anything stupid." He said giving him a pointed look.

When he said that Merle stood up and glared at his brother, "I'm fucking fine Darylina," he said to him. "I ain't gonna be doin' anything stupid, may be a damn addict but I'm not gonna put Mar's life in danger." He all but growled.

Looking between the two brothers Natalie stood at Daryl's side and gently pulled him a bit away from Merle, "Good. That's all we wanted to know." She said and urged Daryl away from his brother with her eyes. "We'll be back in a few hours." She said to Merle and started to walk away with Daryl. "Be safe." She said carefully.

So with that said both Natalie and Daryl made their way away from camp and into the woods where they could hopefully hunt down some squirrel to eat for dinner that night; personally though, Natalie would prefer rabbit but she would eat the other nasty rodent. Natalie could be picky at times with some things that she ate, or at least she was before the world ended but now she may complain a bit about the food but she would still eat it nonetheless. Needed all the energy and strength she could, even if it was from squirrel that she got it.

~_~_~~_~_~TWD_~_~_~_~_~_~

Quote: Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fro through the mouths of men.  
**Quintus Ennius**

My path has not been determined. I shall have more experiences and pass many more milestones.  
**Agnetha Faltskog**


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: not mine as usually, unless they are original characters….those are mine.

A/N: I promise, promise, promise that within the next couple of chapters we will be getting into the first season I just like to be very intricate when I write stories. Sorry. Please bear with me for now.

A/N2: I love you guys, I just wanted you all to know how much I truly do appreciate all of the reviews that you guys give me and for being patient when I don't update as soon as I possibly can. Love you all.

Chapter sixteen

Squirrel hunting, Natalie has decided, was definitely not her forte like it was for her husband apparently. The damn squirrels were fast mother fuckers, and it seemed every time that Natalie missed in hitting one of them that they would turn back and look at her mockingly – as if they were playing a game with her. Give her rabbits and deer any day of the week; sure rabbits were just as fast as squirrels could be but they were a bit larger than them which in the end made them easier to hunt down and track, plus deer were definitely Natalie's favorite. Deer were ten times larger than a squirrel and made a much easier target than something that was usually less than a foot in length.

"Woman," Daryl started and cringed slightly as he watched Natalie miss yet another squirrel that was no scurrying up a tree that was only a good ten or so feet from where they were standing. "I love you like nothin' else but ya suck at squirrel hunting." He told her bluntly from just behind her and readjusted his crossbow that he was carrying. "Didn't ya learn nothin' from what me and Merle taught ya over these years?"

Hearing that Natalie shifted a bit and gave Daryl a look, "I don't suck at hunting Daryl," she said with an exasperated sigh. "Just because I am not one with the woods and in tune with the animals out here like you seem to be does not mean that I suck. I may not be anywhere on the same level as you but I'm decent at this hunting thing I think, especially considering I didn't learn how to do this until I was twenty-two or twenty-three." She pointed u tot him.

For as often as Natalie has playfully made fun of Daryl and how he would avoid social interactions like the plague if he could and would rather go off into the woods for days on end she truly did love that part about him. Daryl and his love for hunting and everything and anything outdoors was something that endeared him to Natalie, it was one of the many things that made Daryl….Daryl.

When Natalie said that Daryl couldn't help but smirk at his wife, "Really?" he asked with a raised brow. "Ya don't suck, is that what ya are sayin' to me?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying." Natalie said and turned to look at Daryl with her hand on her hip. "Are you saying different?" she asked in a playfully challenging way.

Daryl gave a quick nod, "Yeah, I am." He stated. "You are one talented woman Natalie, there are so many things that you can do that I can't. Like computer stuff that makes me mad as hell and messin' with all of that radio shit, but you ain't talented in huntin' down squirrels. I got five squirrels compared to your none." He pointed out to her.

Rolling her eyes Natalie responded, "Yeah, yeah whatever. I get it, you're the damn squirrel king." She said to him with a shake of her head. "Aren't you supposed to be nice to me? I am your wife after all, I didn't think husbands who loved their wives were supposed to make fun of their wives." She said with a joking upturn of her lips.

"It makes the relationship interesting," he said with a small smile on his face. "I love you Nat, ain't nothing gonna stop that." He said to her.

"Better love me," Natalie said giving Daryl an amused look and poking him lightly. "I birthed you a child after all, and it was one of the most painful yet beautiful things that I have ever gone through in my life." She said.

Daryl grinned down at her, "And that was one of the sexiest moments that I have ever seen you in before. You looked beautiful." He said simply and honestly.

When he said that Natalie couldn't help but scoff at that comment, there was no way in hell that Natalie in any way described the word sexy after she had Marlie. Natalie had gone into labor late at night, around maybe two or three in the morning and suffered through labor pains in silence for two hours before she gave in and woke up Daryl and told him to get her to the hospital. The look on Daryl's face when Natalie told him that the baby was coming…..dear lord it was priceless, and something that Natalie will never forget.

After they had finally arrived at the hospital Daryl rushed Natalie into the hospital, and then the doctor took a look at Natalie and said that it would be a while still, that she wasn't dilated nearly enough for the baby to start coming. She was in labor for a damn near day before it was finally time to start pushing, and during the whole time that Natalie had been pushing she had been swearing up a storm, cursing Daryl and his penis and grasping onto Daryl's hand like her life depended on it – she was actually surprised she hadn't broke it with how tightly she grabbed onto it. At the end of everything Natalie looked so haphazard and like she had been through a fight but the end result of that was that she received a beautiful baby girl.

"Daryl…..you," Natalie said and smiled at her husband softly. "You are unintentionally sweet sometimes. You know that right?" she told him as she looked at him lovingly.

The moment those words left Natalie's mouth Daryl scowled a bit, "I ain't sweet woman." He told her but it was obvious that there was a very small hint of a smile on face.

Grinning Natalie stepped towards Daryl a bit and leaned up and softly kissed him on the lips, "That's right, you are my very manly, and very sexy redneck hunter." She stated.

Daryl may act like he didn't like being called sweet, and acted like a badass hunter – no arguing that though, he was definitely a badass hunter a majority of the time. But once in a while, there were times when Daryl dropped the scowl, the badass hunter persona and acted very caring and sweet. Even a few times to Marlie's friends when they had come over, and that always surprised the other parents in her class. He only let it out once in a while and even then it was usually a gruff sweetness that was unique to Daryl.

"My hot, beautiful and very fuckable Yankee." Daryl said with a wolfish grin and gave Natalie's ass a tight squeeze which resulted in her giving a small squeak in surprise.

Here they are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and are supposed to be hunting for people back in camp, yet both Natalie and Daryl are standing in the middle of the woods teasing and flirting with one and another like they were in high school.

Smiling, Natalie took a deep breath and reluctantly stepped away from her very attractive and captivating husband who was staring at her intently, "All right, c'mon Daryl," she said and looked off into the woods where more squirrels were waiting for her to attempt to hunt them down. "I think we need to hunt down some more squirrels," Natalie stated, looking over at the string of squirrels that Daryl had. "I doubt five squirrels are going to feed everyone back in camp."

"Don't have to feed everyone," Daryl said with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders.

Giving a small laugh Natalie nodded, "Well if we accidentally forget to feed Ed I really don't think he will be the worse for wear." She said with a somewhat suppressed grin, it was quite obvious that Natalie was not a fan of Ed or how he treated his daughter and wife.

Just as Natalie was about to walk further into the woods so she could try and attempt to catch one measly squirrel, Daryl suddenly grabbed her free hand that wasn't holding onto her bow and then spun her around towards him so that he could look down into her dark brown eyes with an unreadable expression on his face. Raising his hand that wasn't holding onto the crossbow, Daryl pushed some fly away hairs that had managed to escape Natalie's braid and rubbed some dirt off of her cheek that she had gotten from who knows where.

"You're beautiful," Daryl said softly to his wife, and before Natalie was really able to respond to that comment Daryl leaned down and kissed her. "Haven't really told ya that often enough….just wanted ya to know that I still think ya are."

Daryl would be the first to admit that Natalie could look beautiful in almost anything that she put on; Natalie could dress up like she was going to a fancy ball and would wow Daryl every single time, but she could also dress down and look amazing when wearing an old pair of sweat pants and a raggedy shirt that more than likely needed to be thrown out. Right now though, wearing a pair of pants that had dirt on them, her tank top with one of his button up shirts thrown over it, her worn in boots and hair thrown in a braid, and some smudges of dirt on her face and a hint of sweat rolling down her face from the heat. In all, Daryl though, she looked absolutely perfect….in his eyes at least.

"Daryl-" Natalie started to say but Daryl decided to interrupt her with his lips.

Grinning into the kiss Natalie wrapped an arm around Daryl's neck, fingering one of the small scars that were on the back of his neck and then pulled him closer to her and stood up on her tippy topes and pressed her lips as tightly to Daryl's as she possibly could. Giving a quiet hum in appreciation Natalie wrapped the arm that was still holding onto her recurve bow around Daryl's muscular back as the other moved from the back of his neck to feeling down his shirt and feeling to strong muscles that were hiding underneath the piece of clothing.

While Natalie was doing that Daryl kissed Natalie as passionately as humanly possible; one hand holding the back of her head and keeping their lips pressed tightly to one and another and then he took a few steps forwards until Natalie's back was pressed up against a tree.

"I love you," Daryl said to Natalie softly and grudgingly pulled away from Natalie's very warm and inviting lips and looked down into her face. "I love you, and love ya for putting up with me all of these years." He said to her and gently caressed the side of her face with his calloused hand, the result of working in construction for so many years and basically being outdoors all of the time.

Hearing the sincerity in his voice Natalie couldn't help but tear up a bit, giving Daryl a wide grin she somehow reined her tears in and looked into his mesmerizing blue eyes. "I love you too Daryl," she told him gently. "There ain't nobody else who I would put up with like I do with you. And I love every moment of it."

While Natalie was looking up into Daryl's eyes she had very sneakily moved her hand down from his mid chest area where she had placed it when they had been kissing and moved it down towards his pants – it's not like she's getting much of any lately. Gotta get it when you can.

"Jesus woman!" Daryl said when he felt one of Natalie's hands working its way into his pants, but before she could get very far he grasped onto it quickly and held it to her side. "As much as I would love to have some fun out here right now….'cause we both know I can barely keep my hands off of ya. But we can't Natalie." He told her.

Hearing that Natalie have a slight pout, "Oh come on Daryl. I promise that I'll make it quick." She said with a hopeful look on her face and waggling her eye brows at him. "I would prefer longer but I can deal with ten or fifteen minute session."

Shaking his head Daryl took a few steps away from his wife, "I would love to you know that, but right now we can't. We got to finish up hunting." He told her. "If we take too long we are gonna be getting' hounded by the damn cop, do ya really wanna deal with that?"

"Fine," Natalie said as she pushed herself away from the tree that she had previously been pushed up against by Daryl. "I see your reasoning but it doesn't mean that I have to like it."

Giving a laugh Daryl gave a quick kiss to Natalie's temple, "Never e'spect ya to." He told her and then nodded his head out towards the woods. "C'mon, I'm gonna show ya the proper way to get a squirrel." He said with a half-smile on his scruffy face. "Time we get back ya are gonna have gotten at least one squirrel."

Giving a girlish giggle Natalie gave a wink to Daryl, "Geeze, such a romantic one you are." She joked to him before she turned around and started to head further into the woods.

Knowing Daryl and how stubborn he could be Natalie knew that by the time they were done hunting she will have caught at least one squirrel – he husband wasn't the type to give up on a challenge.

Smiling at his wife's retreating figure Daryl shook his head and began to follow after her, how in the world he managed to snag a woman such as Natalie he will never understand but he is more than thankful for whatever higher being decided that he deserved her.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Woods not too far from Camp ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

After hunting for a couple more hours and only managing to catch a few more squirrels and not seeing one damn rabbit or deer both Natalie and Daryl decided to call it a day and head on back to camp, after all the majority of everyone in camp was waiting on them to get back so that they could get started on dinner. One of the rules that Shane made was that they couldn't have a very high fire which was best for cooking once it started to become night out – walkers were more likely to see it and try and come up to where they decided to stake out their camp.

"Think that's gonna be enough for everyone at camp?" Natalie asked as she gestured to the dead squirrels that were hanging from the rope that Daryl was carrying over one of his shoulders as they were making their way back towards the quarry.

When Natalie said that Daryl glanced at her and then gave a half shrug of the shoulders, "We ain't got much of a choice, it's gonna have to be enough." He told her as he took a good look around where they were walking, keeping a keen eye out for any danger that may appear while they were walking back to camp. "Not like we got much for options of food out here in the woods; basically limited to squirrels, berries, rabbits and deer if we are lucky enough to catch 'em. That's takin' into consideration that we got other animals tryin' to hunt down the deer and rabbits too. We ain't the only predators out here lookin' for food." He stated knowledgably. "Have coyote's, cougars, fox's and other carnivores like that wandering about. Try and take food from one of them when they are mighty hungry and you'll be getting' a nasty fight on ya hands."

When he said that Natalie gave a slight hum of agreement, "Well I will be sure to avoid fight with with an animal for some food then," she joked with a smile on her face. "It's not exactly on the top things to do during the zombie apocalypse, having sex in a stolen Humvee may possibly be on there but getting in a fight with a cougar or something…definitely not." She finished with a smirk on her face.

Sometimes Daryl wondered how his wife could just joke around about life threatening situations like the one they were in – walkers roaming around trying to bite any living thing was definitely something that fell under the life threatening situation category. As much as Daryl had the urge to pull his hair out when Natalie joked about the walkers and the apocalyptic world that they were living in, it was also refreshing to hear at times. It was refreshing because to Daryl it showed that even with all of the shitty things that were going on in the world that Natalie hasn't lost all hope; that through being separated, traveling from Arizona to Georgia, running into some nasty people, and making sure she and their daughter stayed alive and fed as they traveled by themselves, and through all of that she still had hope. Daryl was proud of his wife for what she accomplished by herself and that she utilized all that he and Merle had taught her about surviving in the woods. Most of all though, Daryl was proud to know that Natalie was still the strong, fierce, brave and playful person that she has always been, what made Natalie who she is, and what Daryl loved so much about her. All those things were still the same.

"Nat," Daryl said with a shake of his head as he looked his wife up and down. "You are one of a kind, ya know that?" he said to her and skillfully pulled himself up and over a pile of fallen logs – probably from just before everyone started to try and get to the supposed 'safe zones' that were in Atlanta.

For a moment Natalie looked the pile of fallen logs, some of which were cut down and other's that were basically decaying from the inside out – a pest/bug of some sort was probably to blame for that. After eyeing it a bit Natalie lithely climbed onto the logs without losing any of her weapons, and then jumped down onto the ground besides Daryl, thankfully the jump wasn't too high.

Grinning at her husband Natalie reached up and patted his whiskered cheek lightly, "I know, it's one of my many charms and you wouldn't like me any other way, would you?"

Just as Daryl was about to open his mouth to respond to Natalie's comment there was suddenly a very loud, feminine moan that reached out to their ears. The moan was not the usual kind that Daryl and Natalie were used to hearing in the woods….it was definitely not the kind of moan that a walker made but rather someone who was definitely enjoying some alone time with someone of the opposite sex.

"What in the-?" Natalie said looking in the direction from where the obvious moan of pleasure came from.

Natalie wasn't one to judge someone on where they decide to have sex and whatnot but it was unexpected seeing as most of everyone in camp didn't have a significant other, the only ones that did was a few of the older people who really weren't into having sex at that age and Carol who definitely hadn't been touched by a man in a way that wasn't violent in a very long time. So she was a tad bit curious as to who it was that was getting their freak on in the woods of Georgia.

As curious as Natalie was about who was having sex with one and another, she really would rather not see who it was while they were in the act of having sex, the only naked body she enjoyed seeing was Daryl's and she would like to keep it that way.

"Let's get out of here," Natalie said as she looked into Daryl's clear eyes, eyes that could stop her in her tracks with just one, well pointed look. "I don't need to see or hear anyone having sex." She told him.

At that Daryl gave a half smile, "C'mon, we ain't too far from camp right now. Maybe thirty minute walk at most." He told her as he gently grasped her elbow and started to pull her in the direction of camp. "Sure we got some hungry people waitin' on us for some damn food." He said with a bit of a scowl on his face.

Even with Natalie and Marlie being in camp the last week or so and Daryl being a bit more approachable no one in camp has really thanked Daryl or Merle for the food that they are willingly hunting down for camp; they just take, and take, and take and act as if nothing is needed in return.

Just as Natalie and Daryl took a few more steps in the opposite direction, they once again heard a moan, only this time it was a man's – a very familiar man moaning a woman's name. A woman who had lost her husband only a short while ago.

"Lori!" Shane's voice grunted, coming through the woods.

Without giving much thought to what she was doing Natalie turned around and headed towards where she heard Shane and Lori going at it; Shane who was apparently Lori's husbands best friend and Lori who was supposed to be a distraught widow but now Natalie was rethinking her thoughts on the two.

Just as Natalie was about to push her way through a few bushes that were hiding Lori and Shane from sight, oh how she was itching to give the two a good yelling, Lori especially but before she was able to do so Daryl Stopped her. Quickly grabbing Natalie by the waist, Daryl quickly tugged her off and away from where Lori and Shane were going at it.

"What the….What in the hell…I mean Jesus Christ," Natalie whisper yelled so to not bring the attention to the two….lovers or whatever you would call them. "Lori only just lost her husband and here she is having sex with his best friend? I mean-" cutting herself off Natalie gave a quiet scream of frustration. "Did she even love her husband if she was willing to go to his best friend for sex?" she asked rhetorically.

One thing that was very important to Natalie other than honesty was loyalty, she was a very trustworthy and loyal friend and if you break her trust it will be a long and hard time before you are able to gain that back. The fact that Lori was screwing around with her husband's best friend just ruined the image that she had of the woman, a wife was supposed to cherish, love and be loyal to their husband not go and fuck their deceased husbands best friend after only so many weeks. Natalie genuinely liked Lori, she was one of the few good and true friends that she had in this camp but now….now Natalie isn't sure if she can trust Lori or really believe much of anything that she has to say.

"Babe," Daryl said as he gently laid a hand on the nape of Natalie's neck to calm her down. "Hey….stop swearin' worse than a sailor." He told her and looked down at her with calm eyes. "Ain't our business of what they are doing or if they are doin' each other. If the woman wants to fuck her husband's friend, let her. She's the one whose got to live with it." He stated.

When he said that Natalie looked at him, "But she's acting all distraught over her husband being dead and not having him around and then she goes off and fucks his friend, I mean I know she's going through a tough time but it can't be that tough. What the fuck is wrong with her?"

At that Daryl gave a shrug of his shoulders, "Don't know and don't really care what those two are doing." He said and started to pull her back towards the quarry, what they had originally been doing before they stumbled upon Lori and Shane. "Not our life to be messin' in Nat. Might not agree with what they're doing but it's not our business to get messed up in. I don't want Shane givin' ya trouble for confronting him about doing Lori, and we both know that if Shane start's shooting his mouth off that both me and Merle aren't gonna stand for that. So please," Daryl said seriously. "Don't do anything to cause problems. Yeah?"

"Okay," Natalie said softly and looked Daryl in the eyes, she knew that he was serious when he said please to her.

Very rarely does Daryl ever say the word please, and when he did it was few and far between. It didn't bother Natalie that he didn't say please, Daryl was more than capable of conveying what he meant through looks and gestures – she didn't need him to say please. This time though, Natalie could tell that he was serious by the look in his eyes, he really didn't trust Shane and over the years Natalie has learned to trust her husband and his gut instincts.

"You won't go and confront the cop?" Daryl asked just to be sure.

Giving a sigh Natalie nodded, "I promise." She said to him and then leaned up and kissed him. "Let's get back to camp before I have to urge to go and hit those two asses."

Daryl gave a small laugh at that before he jogged a few feet to catch up to his wife and continued on walking with her back to the quarry; Marlie was probably missing the two of them something awful and more than likely was impatiently waiting for them to return. It wouldn't be a surprise if the six year old girl had somehow coned her uncle into coloring with her – she had the man wrapped around her finger.

~_~_~_~_~ Lori and Shane ~_~_~_~_~

"Wait….wait, just a moment Shane." Lori said as she reluctantly pulled away from the muscular man's kiss, a very heated and passionate kiss.

"Wh…what?" Shane asked breathlessly. "Did I do somethin' or what?" he asked her.

At that Lori looked over in the woods with a concerned look on her face, "No, nothing like that but I swore that I heard something."

For a moment Shane pulled away and rested his weight on his hands that were on either side of Lori and looked out into the woods wondering what could have made a sound, doubted it was a walker he was confident that he would have heard one of them and it's not like they are the most graceful of creatures.

"Don't hear nothin'." Shane said as he turned from the woods and looked down at Lori. "ya sure that you heard something out there?" he asked with a thick raised brow – definitely had the Greek look going on.

Lori gave a curious look, "I thought I did, I mean….you know I wouldn't worry over nothing.' She said starting to second guess herself.

Shane smiled gently down at Lori and caressed the side of her face, "C'mon we can't take that long, people will be wondering where we are at. And I promised to show Carl what plants out here in the woods are able to use for food – he wanted to help ya when you go out scavenging."

So with that said Lori gave a smile up at him and then leaned up and wrapped her arm around his neck and continued on kissing him. They only had a small amount of time alone together before people would start getting suspicious and wonder where they were, probably would send a search party with one of the rednecks leading the search since they were the best hunters and trackers that they had in camp.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Quarry: 6:30 pm – Dinner ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_

Within moments of returning to camp, both Natalie and Daryl started to get the squirrels ready….well okay Natalie sat in one of the chairs in their small camp area with Marlie in her lap watching as Daryl and Merle skinned, gutted and cleaned the squirrel meat up so it could be cooked up and served to everyone in camp. Hopefully if they added just one can of some sort of vegetables to the squirrel meat they could get a half decent meal, and something more hearty.

"Mommy," Marlie said as she looked at her mom from where she was sitting beside her uncle. "Do I gotta finish this up?" she asked her with a slightly disgusted expression on her face – Marlie was definitely not a fan of squirrel meat.

Glancing away from her small bowl of squirrel meat and canned veggies of some sort Natalie looked at her daughter's face and pursed her lips to keep from smiling at the expression on her face, at times Marlie looked so serious and older than her six years. So many of her expressions were so Daryl, it was creepy at times.

Seeing that Marlie barely ate any of her food Natalie gave her a disappointed look, "Mar I know it's not the best tasting but you have to eat." She encouraged.

"Yeah girlie," Merle boomed. "If ya don't eat ya won't be able to hunt with me and be my lucky charm," he told her with a wink. "We ain't gonna tell ya ma and dad 'bout how you are the secret weapon and are gonna beat all them walkers off once ya get a bit older." He joked to her. "Need to eat so ya can build that strength up and learn how to use a bow like ya ma and dad do, need strength to pull the string back."

Hearing that Marlie groaned, "But…but it taste's icky." She said with a pout on her lips, a pout that has worked well against her uncle when it was just her and him hanging out but with her parents there she isn't so sure if it will give the same result.

There were days in this new world that Marlie was willing to eat weird and sometimes not the best tasting food, but she is a six year old girl and they aren't always so agreeable all of the time and in fact Natalie and Daryl were lucky with how often she did eat some of the food willingly. Even back before all of this happened, Natalie and Daryl had a few problems getting Marlie to eat normal food let alone squirrels and rabbits, the girl was a damn picky eater which is something that she got from her mother who was the same way at her age.

"Marlie," Daryl said in his usual, somewhat gruff tone of voice that he always seemed to use. "Eat….no arguin' with me, your mama or your uncle. You need to eat and eat as much as ya can. No knowing how often we are gonna be able to eat like this. So eat." He told her with a voice of finality.

Merle looked over at his brother and sister-in-law and then down at his nice who he playfully messed her hair up, "You and me are gonna find a stash of sweets, and we ain't gonna share with ya mama or dad. Just you wait…it will appear." He whispered which made Marlie giggle a bit.

Taking another bite of the barely seasoned squirrel meat and vegetables Natalie glanced over towards the main campfire and saw the majority of people sitting around it on chairs, eating and talking happily. So far every time Daryl or Merle brought food back for the camp to cook up not one person came over to thank them for what they did, no one approached the brothers to tell them that they were thankful that they went out into the woods to hunt down food for them all to eat. It pissed off Natalie that everyone was so willing to take the food but not say anything to the people who brought them said food, food that they wouldn't have if they weren't there – they would basically be starving if not for Daryl and Merle. Natalie had hoped over the week or so that she and Marlie have been there that eventually someone would work up the balls and come over and tell Daryl and Merle thanks but nope, not one person…..greedy is what a lot of them were.

"Fucking ridiculous," Natalie said with a sharp shake of her head as she set her food down in front of her.

Daryl looked at his wife, "What? What's the matter?" he asked.

Natalie glared towards where everyone was sitting at the main camp area and then looked at Daryl with an annoyed expression on her face, "Them, that's the matter." She gestured. "No one says anything for us bringing food?" she questioned.

"Yeah….so what." Merle said with a shrug.

At that Natalie looked at Merle, "They should have the decency to say thank you, the reason no one says anything is because they think we are hicks and not worthy of their time. Half of them are always looking at us and judging us because of who a stupid ass reason," she said with a harsh shake of her head, she was beyond pissed and has been letting the looks go, and the never saying thank you for the food since she got there but she isn't going to let it go any longer.

"Nat," Daryl said grabbing her hand in his. "Let it go, it ain't worth it and me and Merle don't care what they say or do. They ain't important." He told her.

Natalie shook her head, "No Daryl, it does matter." She told him seriously. "They have no right to judge you and Merle. I won't let them get away with that."

Daryl opened his mouth to respond to that statement but before he was able to Natalie had stood up from where she was sitting with Daryl, and all but stalked her way over to where everyone else was eating dinner. Already Daryl knew this was going to be an interesting sight to see, at times he wished his wife was less confrontational but then he realized that he would hate a quiet and plaint wife – life wouldn't be the same.

"Spose we should follow after firecracker." Merle stated as he looked after his sister-in-law. "Don't need her getting' in a fight."

Daryl gave a sigh and nodded, "Yeah probably." He said and ran his hands through his hair before he set his mostly finished bow of food down next to his chair.

Marlie looked between her uncle and dad before glancing at where her mom was walking towards everyone else, "Dad? What's wrong with mama?" she asked.

"You mama is just a very strong and protective woman," Daryl said and shook his head.

As Natalie was stalking towards the main fire in camp she tried to calm herself down over no one saying thank you to her family and the fact that they didn't really know them but she was too angry to calm down – controlling her anger was basically a lost cause at the moment.

"What in the hell is wrong with all of you? Hmm?" Natalie asked with narrowed eyes as she took a good look at all of them, Natalie liked Dale, Amy, T-Dog and Glenn but this was definitely not something she was just going to let go of, no way in hell.

Shane who was sitting in between Carl and Lori looked at Natalie as if she had completely lost her mind, "What are you talking about?" he asked, maybe the woman had finally lost her mind after being married to the redneck for so long.

With a sarcastic laugh Natalie pointed at their bowls and plates that were filled with some food, "That…that is what I am talking about." She told them with a tight lipped expression.

Lori looked from her plate of food to Natalie, "Our food?" she questioned.

"Yes, your food." Natalie said to her and looked at all of them. "We go out and hunt for a few hours, hunting down one of the hardest damn rodents possible so that everyone here has something to eat and what do you guys do in return?" she asked them rhetorically and gave a glare to Glenn when he tried to answer. "You don't do anything, you don't give a nod of thanks, no one comes and says thank you and definitely no nod of acknowledgement over what we did. You just take it and eat it….nothing said to Daryl or Merle for their efforts." Natalie said looking at them all accusingly. "I don't give as hit if you say thank you to me, but they deserve a thank you."

Daryl stepped closer to Natalie and opened his mouth to try and calm her down from the tirade that she was going on but soon decided against it; what she was saying to the other campers was true and he thought they all deserved it. And who better to do it than Natalie, she was skilled at giving a good tongue lashing to people who deserved it and Daryl was happy that it wasn't him on the receiving end of it this time. If she wanted to be, Natalie could be downright cruel.

Merle crossed his arms and grinned at Daryl, "This is gonna be quite the show baby bro, ya wife is gonna tear 'em all a new ass hole. They are gonna be actin' like little bitches once she gets through with them." He said as he watched Natalie yelling at the other campers with glee. "Too bad we ain't got popcorn to watch the show."

"We've said thanks," Morales said looking at her. "You are accusing us of something we never did."

At that Natalie scoffed, "Oh you've said thanks?" she questioned as she stepped a bit closer. "When? When did you say thinks?" she asked him. "I eat dinner with my family every single night and as of yet I haven't seen any of you tell my husband or brother-in-law thank you for hunting down food for you all." She told him. "I get that they can be assholes at times but that doesn't mean you can at least say a quick thanks."

"We-" Andrea started but then cut herself off when she realized that they really haven't approached the brothers much at all, the only ones that they really interacted with much were Natalie and Marlie.

"We what?" Natalie asked. "Were you going to say you all are selfish bastards because that is exactly what you are acting like." She told them snidely. "I don't appreciate people who treat my family like a good portion of you all have, like a disease, like lepers."

Taking a deep breath Shane stood up and turned towards Natalie so that he could look at her, "It's been an even trade so far Natalie," he spoke. "We've lived so far since this all began and had our system worked out, they hunted the food down, we cooked and then shared what we cooked with them. It's been an even trade off so far." He told her. "We don't mean any insult by not saying thanks but before ya came here we had this thing going on." He told her.

"So you are basically treating them like outcasts," Natalie said with a raised brow and crossed her arms and looked at him defiantly, just waiting for him to challenge what she was saying to him.

At that Dale shook his head and spoke up, "No dear, we aren't treating them like that, We would never treat another human being like that, especially with how the world is now, we must keep our humanity. We-"

Natalie gave a slight laugh, "You are just basically ignoring them and acting as if they aren't here unless you need food, right?" she countered.

Shane took a few steps towards where Natalie was standing, but not too close in case she had the same anger as her husband and brother-in-law. "Hey now, you ain't allowed to call us things like that and treat us as such." He told her sternly, like a father would say to their rebellious daughter. "We let you into camp, gave you a place to sleep, food to eat and –"

"Don't even go there Shane," she said with a slight sneer on her face. "When I came here I had supplies that I was more than willing to share with you and the rest of camp; I had canned food, some medical supplies, weapons, blankets and other useful things such as that. So because of what I brought I think I have a right to speak my mind on how you treat my husband and my brother in law."

While Natalie and Shane were having it out, a few of the other campers were starting to realize what they were doing and realizing what Natalie has done for them. They would not be nearly as well off food wise and supply wise if she hadn't come along. Natalie may not have brought all that much stuff, but she brought enough that they all could live in the quarry with a bit of luxury – or as luxurious as living in a quarry can get.

Natalie barely ever yelled at anyone, at least not in anger she didn't and it wasn't something she liked to do but sometimes you just got to act like a bitch to make things happen and to get a point across. And right now was a time when Natalie was trying to get a point across to these people.

"You all are judging us because of what you assume us to be, you look down on us for no good reason." Natalie said with angry tears forming in her eyes but she quickly blinked them away, when she got angry she sometimes ended up crying. "You see us as Redneck hicks, with no class."

"Natalie I'm sorry, we never realized. I…I have nothing to say." Lori said, speaking up from her position by the fire.

Before Natalie was able to respond to that really, Ed Pelletier made a loud noise and then pushed himself up from his seated position besides his wife and daughter both of whom were cringing over what Ed is about to do.

"We treat 'em like shit because we don't need to mix with your type," Ed said pointing at Natalie and her family who were standing a few feet behind her, Marlie was grasping onto her uncle's legs watching in fear.

"Now Ed," Shane said approaching the two. "I think we've had enough and-"

Natalie shook her head and looked Ed into Ed's cold eyes, "Nah, go on. I want to know what the hell he meant by that." She said with her hands on her hips.

Quickly Daryl moved over to his wife, hoping to calm her down a bit before she did something completely stupid – he did not need her attacking Ed because of the hate she already had for him and the fact that he was basically insulting Natalie, Daryl, Merle and Marlie.

Ed glared at Natalie and Daryl who was standing just behind her with his hand resting on her shoulder, "You are trash is what you are, you and your whole family are." He told her. "No good hicks, is what you are. Bet your husband can barely afford the trailer that you guys lived in and is so inbred that it's the reason why both of them idiot's barely ever talk." He said and then glanced over at where Merle and Marlie were. "Your daughter too, gonna end up being white trash too just like you and your husband."

The moment those words left his mouth Natalie clenched her jaw, "If I were you Ed I would shut the fuck up before I make you shut up." She told him fiercely. "And trust me, I will do it without a moment's hesitation." She said and advanced towards him a bit.

Daryl lightly tightened his hold on Natalie's arm and stopped her from walking any closer to where Ed was, it was obvious that Natalie was not going to back down from what Ed was saying.

Before it could get any nastier Dale stepped into the conversation, "I think we all need to take a deep breath and calm down, we really do not need to fight right now. We have to worry about fighting against the walkers…..not our fellow human being."

"C'mon Nat," Daryl said and tried to pull his wife back over to their camp.

Shaking her head, Natalie pulled her arm out of Daryl's grip and sent him a glare for doing so and gently pushed I'm away from her. "Don't Daryl. Let me deal with this."

Giving a huff of anger Daryl nodded his head but refused to move from his spot near Natalie, in case Ed or Natalie decided to do something stupid he was going to be there to make sure no harm came to his wife. He's not about to let an abusive asshole do something to his wife if he can stop it.

"Mama!" Marlie called. "Please stop." She begged.

Natalie gave a soft smile before she turned back towards Ed, "So, you were saying?" she questioned.

"Enough," Shane yelled quietly at the two of them. "No more fighting and arguing. How about we all go back to our own camps and just calm down for the night. All right?"

Ed ignored what Shane had said to the two and looked at Natalie with a glare, "I as saying how you and your so called family are fucking trailer trash, worthless, inbred fools who probably don't know up from down." He said to her. "Before this shit happened you were probably the poorest of the bunch, lived in a broken down trailer and prolly could barely feed your daughter. Growing up with parents like you, that girl is gonna be messed up in the head and will go downhill. Probably sell her body for money when she got older. Or off herself."

Not able to handle it anymore Natalie looked over at Carol and Sophia and smiled at them apologetically, what she was about to do to Ed was not going to be all that nice. Without warning, Natalie punched Ed square in the face – she may barely top five foot three or four but she definitely knew how to pack a punch. It came with the territory of growing up with a lot of cousins and a few of whom were boys. The punch that Natalie gave Ed forced him to stumble back a bit, but he recovered quickly and came up with his fist swinging towards Natalie's face but before he was even able to get close to the woman Daryl had quickly stepped forward and in front of Ed with his knife held up to the larger man's neck.

Glaring heatedly at the man Daryl pressed the knife a bit into his neck, "Go ahead, make my day." He growled out at him.

"Stupid fucking cunt anyways," Ed said and stepped away from Daryl. "Daughter probably isn't even yours."

Hearing those words Natalie tried to jump at Ed once again but Merle had grabbed onto her around the waist to keep her from doing so and Marlie was holding onto her legs as tightly as she could for being only six years old – she had a good grip on her for being so young.

Marlie looked up at her mother who had a serious face on, "Mommy please, please don't fight anymore. I don't want you to get hurt." She said to her desperately.

Taking a deep breath, Natalie closed her eyes and calmed herself down a bit. "Sorry Marlie," she told her daughter with a soft smile and patted the top of her head.

"Okay," Shane said after that exciting incident. "I mean it when I say no more fighting. I am not gonna be dealing with that here, you got me?" he asked as he looked between both Ed and Natalie, he would admit thought that he was impressed that the woman was able to punch Ed with so much force. "We already have too much shit to worry about like running out of supplies; I ain't in the mood to deal with people fighting in camp."

"Whatever." Ed said and stalked past his wife and towards where their shared tent was at.

Shane shook his head as Ed walked off and then turned his attention to Natalie and Daryl who were glaring after Ed, "You," Shane said looking Daryl in the eyes. "Need to control your wife so that doesn't happen again."

Daryl surprised everyone by giving a genuine laugh at that statement, "I may be her husband but I defin'tly ain't her keeper. Natalie does what she want's most of the time, and nobody will be controlling that woman but Natalie herself." He told him. "So if you cherished your life I'd be sure not to say shit like that around me and my wife ever again."

"No one," Natalie said looking at Shane and then at everyone else who was still there watching the fighting and arguing going on. "And I mean no one, will ever tell me what to do and I am not going to let someone like Ed get away with insulting me and my family. You all need to rethink of how you see me and my family," she said with an angry huff. "We may act and sometimes look like we are trailer trash but we aren't, the farthest thing from it." She said and gave them a disgusted look. "Before all of this shit went down my family was doing well, better than well in fact. Daryl and Merle had their own damn business, and I doubt many of you guys could say that for yourselves…can you?" she asked rhetorically. "You guys gotta stop judging people based on how they seem to act and how they look – rednecks aren't always trailer trash. Damn idiots."

Before anyone was able to respond to Natalie she gave a heated glare at the majority of everyone in camp before she stormed off and away from everyone and angrily entered her and Daryl's tent. The moment that Natalie entered the tent and yanked the zipper of the tent down a good portion of the people in camp realized that the normally very calm and caring woman had many good points – everything Natalie said was true, that they took and never said anything to thank the Dixon's for what they did and how much they truly contributed to camp even though the majority of everyone never noticed. Without the Dixon's they all would starve to death….either that or be eating beans out of a can.

Giving a sigh Daryl looked from the tent that his wife just entered and then over at his older brother, "Can ya keep Mar with ya tonight?" he asked Merle with an unusually quiet tone of voice. "Need to talk with the woman." He stated and glanced over towards the tent in concern.

At that Merle nodded without any hesitation, "Yak now I got ya back baby bro, I can watch the little demon for the night. Can tell stories to her 'bout you and Nat and stay up real late." He said and then looked down at Marlie who was standing next to him looking between the campers and her family in confusion. "Sound good, ya stay with me in my tent for the night? Even let ya have my bed." He said with a wink.

"Like a sleep over?" she asked looking away from the campers and up at her uncle.

Merle nodded, "Yeah."

"Yay!" Marlie said with a slight jump in her step. "I haven't been to a sleep over in sooooo long. And the last time I did Bridget threw up." She said making a face at that comment. "It was really gross."

When Marlie said that Daryl gave a small smile, even with the world falling apart as it was his daughter still thought about how things used to be…..she acted like it was any other day of the year and that there weren't walkers out there who threatened their safety. It was something Marlie got from her mother – he would rather her be like that then be scared at all times and skittish at any sudden noise that went through camp like a few of the other people were.

Turning away from his daughter Daryl looked at the other campers and gave them a harsh glare, especially to Shane who he didn't like in the first place all that much. "Ya all are assholes. Can't ya try and be considerate once in a while, geeze." He said with a shake of his head and then followed after Natalie.

Reaching his and Natalie's tent he could hear Natalie swearing up and storm and stalking around the tent angrily, if he was any less of a man he would be scared away just from the words that were coming out of his wife's mouth but he was a Dixon and Dixon's didn't back down when faced with something terrifying…..even if that terrifying thing was your wife when she's angry at asshole campers.

"Nat?" Daryl asked as he unzipped the tent and then entered in cautiously, and just as he thought Natalie was pacing back and forth in the tent with an angry set to her step and was probably imagining kicking in Shane and Ed's skulls.

"What!" Natalie asked sharply and glared over at her husband who responded with just the slight raise of a brow. "I'm sorry." She said with a sigh and rubbed at her face in anger and frustration. "I'm just so….so grr over that whole shit storm that just went on." She said gesturing towards the opening of the tent. "I mean who in the hell do those people think they are, they think that they are better than you and Merle because they have such nice jobs, they work in office buildings and are police officers and lawyers. Ooooh just because of those jobs it makes them better than us," Natalie asked rhetorically and paused for a moment.

When she said that Daryl just nodded at her and let her continue on talking and complaining, he knew that Natalie needed to get her anger out and the one sure way to do so was to let her talk about what was bothering her and yell about it and even swear a bit. Afterwards Natalie was so much happier and wasn't simmering in her anger which really isn't a good thing for anyone.

"You and Merle had a business," Natalie stated with a proud tone of voice. "You guys started that business when you were nineteen or twenty years old, and you two achieved so much in a short time period and were quite successful with what you did." She told him and took a deep calming breath. "I hate it when people judge you, they don't know you and they won't even approach you because of who they think you are and think that we are poor as shit and getting government assistance. Fucking assholes." She said and shook her head.

Daryl stepped closer to Natalie and brushed some of her hair behind her ear, "I know, never doubted that about a good amount of them." He said to her calmly and looked into her eyes with a gentle smile.

Seeing that Natalie looked up at Daryl with a furrowed brow, "Why are you so calm?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be just as angry and pissed off as me?" she asked him with a skeptical look on her face.

"Woman," Daryl said with an amused smirk on his face. "You are angry enough for the both of us." He joked to her.

At that Natalie gave a small laugh and laid her head against Daryl's chest, "Don't make me laugh when I want to be angry damn it, you are being counterproductive to my anger." She stated softly and griped onto the frayed edges of where he had ripped off the sleeves of his shirt. "I think we traded places for a little bit."

Smiling Daryl wrapped his arms around Natalie and rested his chin against the top of Natalie's blonde haired head, "Ya lettin' your anger out once in a while is an okay thing to have happen, ya told all them what ya thought about how they was treating me and Merle so I think ya succeeded in what ya wanted." He said with a slight proud hum in the back of his throat for how Natalie handled everything. "I think they are gonna start appreciatin' what we do just to make sure everyone is getting fed here. Think when you got angry as hell at them that you kinda scared 'em a bit, especially considering you are usually so calm and collected."

"See that's my secret weapon," Natalie said as she repositioned her head a bit so that she could look up at Daryl with a slight squint of her eyes. "I'm all calm, and laid back for the most part and don't get angry very easily but when you do something so incredibly stupid that someone needs to say something, BAM, I'm there giving you a piece of my mind." She told him.

Daryl smiled before he pulled away and then leaned down and kissed natalei squarely on the lips. "Don't I know it. I've been on the recievin' end of your anger once in a while." He stated.

Natalie pursed her lips in amusement, "Well a good portion of the time you did deserve that anger." She told him.

"Hey I didn't do soemthin' wrong every single time." Daryl countered and looked at her with a slightly offended look.

Smiling Natalie gently felt the whispers of his beard that was growing even more, "I said a good portion, not every single time as hard as it is for me to admit I am not always right." She said blandly and rolled her eyes.

Daryl just grinned at that comment and then pulled Natalie in close to him and closed his eyes as he embraced her contently, there were few moments when the two were able to just breathe and not have to worry about so many things that were going on in their lives. Worrying about hunting, about Merle and his drug problem, about Marlie, about walkers and staying alive, and about what they are going to do when winter comes around. Sometimes it's nice to just feel and forget about all of the worries that they had.

"Did I say that you looked sexy as hell when you were telling everyone off?" Daryl asked as he looked down at his wife with a wolfish grin. "Especially when ya decided to punch Ed, I was damn close to stealin' ya away and having my way with you."

"Oh really?" Natalie asked coyly and looked into her husband's clear eyes and traced a small scar that was showing from where his shirt was unbuttoned a bit. "Sexy you say?" she asked with a small grin on her face.

Daryl nodded, "Sexiest fucking thing," he told her as he cupped her face with is hands and leaned down and kissed her passionately and stepping a bit closer to where she stood and pressed his body as close to hers as he could. "And beautiful, it was sexy and beautiful."

"tell me more," Natalie urged Daryl playfully.

That made daryl grin widely at her, "I'll do ya one better and show ya what I thought." He said to her and then without warning grasped Natalie under the legs to which she responded with wrapping them around his waist so that she didn't fall and wrapped her arms around his neck and looked down into his eyes.

"Daryl-"

Before Natalie was able to say more than her husband's name Daryl gave her a good and passionate kiss that took Natalie's breath away, and that was only the beginning of what was going to be happening that night.

~_~_~_~~_ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~~_~_~_~~_ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

Quotes: I challenge you to be dreamers; I challenge you to be doers and let us make the greatest place in the world even better.  
**Brian Schweitzer**

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.  
**Lucius Annaeus Seneca**


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I own nothing but original characters, but any who can find me a Daryl Dixon of my very own will get a kickass homemade rainbow cake or anything really.

A/N: So I bought Walker Dead season three today which I haven't seen as of yet, except a few episodes I came across when looking through the channels and instead of watching them I decided to write a new chapter for you lovely people. Smooches dearies.

A/N: first off I'm back at college again so my updates might be a bit sparse but I will do all I can to at least do one a week….but you all know how life is. Second I love reviews and I love reading all of them. And I want to thank the guest reviewer who left me a nice and long paragraph review. Any who enjoy the story.

Chapter seventeen

It was early in the morning, maybe four or five at the latest and Natalie was up on top of dale's very dated RV taking her turn doing watch – everyone in camp needed to pitch in and take a turn doing so, the only exception really was kids….well kid's and Ed…and Merle. Ed wouldn't take being watch serious enough, and Merle was a hard person to deal with and the majority of people who would have been paired with him wouldn't be able to take being around him for more than an hour or so. Since watch was usually at least a few hours it was probably best that Merle just be completely excluded from doing them. Safer for everyone involved and less headaches.

At the moment Natalie was doing watch with Andrea, which was completely stupid and made her think whoever did the pairing had a death wish. It was obvious to everyone in camp that the two girls didn't get along whatsoever, and almost every time the two were within one and another's vicinity they ended up arguing like cats and dogs and there have even been a few close calls of actual fights between the two.

"Anything out there?" Andrea asked as she glanced at Natalie who was sitting on the opposite end of the RV with her recurve bow in hand and a stack of arrows laying besides her.

Giving a halfhearted look in Andrea's direction Natalie soon turned her eyes to the woods to see if there was any unusual activity going on, activity that would be linked to Walkers. Natalie couldn't hear or see anything that was unusual or suspicious sounding; there were sounds of quiet snores coming from below them in the RV (probably Dale), the sound of people moving around in their tents and just the sounds of animals and insects out in the woods. The normal sounds you would hear when camping out in the woods.

"No, nothing unusual." Natalie said to Andrea shortly and then pulled a very lightweight grey sweater closer around her and stared off into the woods once again, they may live in Georgia where it's warm damn near all year around but come nightfall it can get a tad bit on the cold side even in the warmer months.

Seeing as Natalie made no move to say much of anything else after that very short comment Andrea gave a silent sigh and ran her hands through her hair, unsure of how to go about apologizing to the woman for all that she had done and said to her and her husband. Apologizing was never Andrea's thing; the only people she's ever apologized to were family members. But Andrea knew that she definitely needed to apologize to Natalie, she always tried to be nice, she taught some of the kids in camp and some of the adults how to make camp from animal fat and ash – as nasty as that sounded it was better than not having any soap. Natalie was great with kids and could keep Merle from being too much of an ass, so that was definitely a pro in Andrea's book.

"Natalie," Andrea said carefully as she looked to the other woman who responded with a questioning glance. "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting since you've been here. I've treated you your husband and….Merle like shit. I know that you don't deserve any of the shit that I've said to you or about you and your husband." She said to her hesitantly, unsure of how to word what she wanted to say. "I want to make things right between us…or at least as civil as you and I possibly can be. I will fully admit that it's my fault why we," she said gesturing between herself and Natalie. "Don't get along, but if you are willing, I would like for us to try and get along." She said with a weak smile on her face.

For a good few minutes or so Natalie to a good look at Andrea, as if she was studying her to be sure if she was being serious or just saying half of that because of her sister Amy, who really seemed to like Natalie. Ever since Andrea found out that Natalie was married to Daryl the woman has done damn near everything she could to put her, her husband and Merle down…no matter how small or petty of an insult it was Andrea would use it. Hell if they had been talking about off brand laundry soap Andrea would have probably responded with that only the trashy rednecks buy the cheap stuff or something along those lines. So now having Andrea sitting up on Dales RV with her and apologizing and giving her one of the most sincere looks she has ever seen on the woman was almost like having whiplash. First she hates Natalie or at least dislikes her quite a bit and then now she's trying to get all buddy/buddy with her.

"You're apologizing?" Natalie asked with a raised brow and a doubtful look on her face. "You're apologizing to me? The wife of the angry redneck and sister-in-law of the perverted red neck?" she asked skeptically. "Those were the words you used when you were describing my family right?"

Andrea cringed a bit when she heard the angry words that she had said to Carol when the two had been talking, "I'm trying to apologize to you, I'm obviously not the best at it but I am trying. Lawyers don't apologize all that often you know." She responded with a lame joke but Natalia just responded with a stoic look on her face. "Right,' she said with an awkward shrug. "I get that I was acting like a-"

"Like a bitch, a pretentious asshole, a judgmental, self-important nimrod who thinks being a redneck immediately makes a person trash and poor as hell?" Natalie filled in with a biting tone to her voice.

Giving a hesitant nod at that Andrea agreed, "I wasn't going to put it in that exact wording but yeah, I was basically acting like that." She admitted to her with a grimly. "I was acting like a bitch mostly because of how Merle and Daryl acted to everyone in camp before you came around, I shouldn't have judged you because of that or insulted you guys every chance I got." She said with an apologetic half smile. "I'm not saying that I am the biggest fan of Merle and Daryl, or like them all that much but I respect what they do for us here in camp. Hunting for us and bringing us food back to eat so that we all don't starve even if they don't like a good majority of us."

Looking away from Andrea and towards the tent that Daryl and Marlie were sleeping in Natalie gave a soft smile, "Daryl isn't nearly as bad as he tries to make himself out to be you know. I will admit he is a redneck, through and through but that's one of the things that I love about him," she said with a grin and looked Andrea in the eyes. "He can be gruff at times, act like a cave man too, and has a bit of a temper on him but he's not horrible. And Merle, well he's just an ass there's no getting around that." She said and raised her hands in a 'what can you do' sort of gesture.

"I'm sure he is," Andre said a bit skeptically, the man looked unapproachable for a majority of the time unless he was with Natalie and Marlie and now that she thinks about it Andrea doubt's that she's ever seen Daryl smile. "I really am sorry Natalie, I don't want the two of us to argue or be insulting one and another all of the time. I want to start over." She said and looked at her expectantly.

When she said that Natalie gave a small smile in her direction, "Thanks Andrea." She told her. "I really do appreciate you saying all of that; you have no idea especially c considering barely anyone has come to apologize for the whole food thing since I yelled at them the other day." She stated with a slightly annoyed look on her face for the campers who still don't talk or approach her family even though they bring them food. "I'm not saying that I'm okay with how you acted and treated me and Daryl, because that was downright unfair but we can try and start over and be civil. But I won't forget it."

Hearing that Andrea nodded in understanding, "I can deal with that." She told her with a small smile on her face, relieved that Natalie didn't completely reject her or try and kill her.

So with that said and done the two girls who before were arguing and fighting with each other all of the time now formed a hesitant friendship, even with Walkers roaming around all over the place there were still going to be problems with any group of people. Natalie and Andrea's problem was only minor thankfully compared to other problems that could have been going on in the group.

So off and on for the next couple of hours Natalie and Andrea made small talk; they spoke of things that they missed from before the dead started walking around, where they were at when shit started to hit the fan, they talked about things that they enjoyed doing in the old world and also joked about the 'famous' people of the world and wondering how some of the high and mighty ones such as Paris Hilton, Charlie Sheen and all of those types are adjusting to this new way of living – without being catered to.

"What is your favorite thing to do when you have some free time?" Andrea asked looking at Natalie with a curious look on her face. "Something that you do when you need to get away and just be by yourself, no Daryl or Marlie or Merle. Just you."

When she said that Natalie paused for a moment and thought deeply on that question, ever since the dead started walking around Natalie hasn't been able to go off and be by herself especially considering it's terribly dangerous to do something like that. Being in pairs or even larger groups than that is safest; you're less likely to get yourself killed that way.

"Well?" Andrea pushed when Natalie didn't respond after a few moments.

Giving a small laugh Natalie shrugged, "I don't know, it's been me and them for so long." She admitted to her.

Andrea gave her a look, "You do know that being around your family constantly, day in and day out is unhealthy for you. Right?" she asked with a raised brow as she looked at Natalie as if she had lost her mind.

At that Natalie rolled her eyes, "I'm not saying that I didn't ever get away from them because I did, I had girl's night with my friends but I haven't done something by myself in a long time." She told her and then tapped her finger against her chin trying to think of something that she loved doing just by herself without having her husband or daughter to enjoy it with. "Pictures." She said suddenly. "I loved going out on the town, or out in the woods near the city that we lived by and taking pictures with my camera. It wasn't an SLR or anything," she said glancing at her. "A photographers camera," she explained when she saw the confused look on Andrea's face. "But it was something I liked doing, I took artistic photos and ones of everyday life. The good ones I printed and put up around mine and Daryl's house, and others I gave away to my friends and things like that."

"I would love to see some one day." Andrea told her.

Hearing that Natalie gave a small, dry laugh. "If the world gets back a quarter of its normalcy you can come to my house and see some of the pictures I've taken." She told her with a sad shake of her head; Natalie seriously doubted that she will ever see her own house ever again.

Andrea smiled at that, "I'm gonna hold you to that you know." She said with an amused smile on her face. "You'll see, ten years down the road everything will be tamed down and somewhat back to the way things were." She stated.

"Riiight," Natalie said nodding and giving Andrea an unbelieving look. "Sure."

Andrea smiled to herself at that; maybe she was being too optimistic, too hopeful and believed too much that things would go back to the way they were before the dead came alive but those things gave her the strength to keep on living like she was. It was hard to not give up some days, and it was hard to not get angry at why things like this happened. All she wants is to go back to the life she had, to do the things that she had planned before the world went bottom end up.

"How did you and Daryl end up meeting?" Andrea asked curiously, changing the subject matter.

At that Natalie gave an amused smile before answering the question, "I met Merle first, the two of them came into the Deli I worked at and Merle was trying to flirt with me but was failing miserably. For one he's ten plus years older than me with barely any hair," she said and shook her head "I love Merle like the older weird brother I never had but there was no way in hell back then that I would have gone for his type." She said with a decisive shake of her head. "Merle made me want to laugh and hit him all at the same time."

"It seems to be a common occurrence even now." Andrea said to her. "Though I think most of everyone is more so wanting to hit him then laugh at the things he's said." She pointed out with a slight grimace.

"He does have that effect on people," Natalie said with a soft smile at the thought of her brother in law, he may not be the best person all of the time but he does care about the people he considers family. "For a week straight Merle and Daryl came in to the Deli I worked at and ordered sandwiches and even grabbed some before they went home after work – usually it was Daryl who did so since Merle always went straight home after work. When I first saw Daryl I thought that he was a man, if the most manly man was embodied it was Daryl….or at least I thought so," she said with a somewhat embarrassed laugh for revealing that. "Every time Daryl and Merle came in I would do my damndest to flirt with Daryl, in subtle but somewhat obvious way but every time I did so….nada….nothing from him. Not even a hint of a smile. "I was seriously thinking that he was either not interested or was gay – I doubted the gay thing though, he was just too…manly or something like that." She said to her.

When Natalie finished saying that Andrea couldn't help but stare at her in surprise at the fact that Daryl didn't seem to get the flirting that Natalie was using on him; Natalie was beautiful but maybe not in the classic way that most people were used to. She had an earthy beauty to her, a real beauty unlike all of those fashion magazines where half of the models look like starved meth heads.

"How?" Andrea asked with a shocked look on her face.

Natalie shrugged at that, "No idea, Merle finally gave us the push we needed though…or Daryl the push since I was more than ready." She said with a bit of laughter on her lips. "Daryl can be socially inept at times, or rather the majority of times so I kinda get why he didn't really comprehend my flirting."

After she said that Natalie glanced up at the sky and saw that the sun was now starting to come out more and shine onto the camping area which meant that Natalie and Andrea would soon be relieved from watch duty – right now Natalie would love to get up and off of her ass, it was really starting to get sore.

Looking over towards her family's small campsite area Natalie saw that both Marlie and Daryl were coming out of the tent; her husband of course had to scratch at hiss as right away which made Natalie give a snort of amusement. Men.

Marlie though looked around camp searchingly, obviously looking for Natalie and the moment her eyes landed on the RV she smiled widely up at her mother and waved excitedly to which Natalie responded by blowing her a small kiss and waving back just as excitedly. Daryl first looked at Andrea with a scowl before looking at Natalie with an unreadable expression in her direction, though Natalie is used to those so all she did was give him a sultry wink which made him shake his head at her antics. Oh how Natalie loved keeping that man on his toes.

~~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Quarry: Early afternoon ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_~_

"A'right, A'right people gather 'round!" Shane yelled out to the majority of camp and motioned them towards where the main campfire was at. "Got somethin' that I need to say to ya'all." He stated.

Reluctantly the majority of everyone stopped doing whatever it was that they were doing; be it cleaning some of the very few meager weapons they had, sewing up some of the torn clothes of the campers, going through the food that they had and seeing what they could make for dinner or chopping up some firewood. Even Merle decided to come around for whatever Shane decided he needed to talk to them all about, usually he responded with some kind of insulting comment and walked off into the woods but he must be in an unusually nice mood or drugged up on something.

Natalie leaned in towards her husband, "So this really is starting to feel like school all over again, gathering us around to talk to us. How third grade of him," she said sarcastically and crossed her arms in front of her chest and barely managed to not look at Shane with a glare, she was still pissed over the fact him and Lori were doing the dirty.

"Ya can always go and yell at him again," Daryl suggested with a grin on his face. "Shut him up nice and quick." He told her.

Hearing that Natalie rolled her eyes, "That's a weapon I only use in extenuating circumstances." She told him.

Merle gave a laugh, "Yeah, circumstances that seem to revolve 'round me and baby bro." he said with a smirk on his face.

Before Natalie was able to respond to that Shane, the asshole cop suddenly started to address the adults of the camp and so reluctantly Natalie turned away from her brother in law and looked towards Shane who was standing near Lori – like it's not obvious that he had a thing for her.

Shane glanced at everyone, "All right everyone, we have a slight problem at the moment." He started and paused for a moment to let that sink in.

"What do you mean by problem?" Morales' wife asked as she looked Shane trustingly in the eyes. "Were Walkers spotted near here?" she whispered worriedly and then quickly glanced a few feet away where the younger kids were playing at, having Walkers up by the quarry would definitely be a problem.

"Please tell me it's not Walkers, we don't have nearly enough gas and cars to leave and find some other place to hunker down in," an older woman said who Natalie could not remember the name of.

Immediately Shane shook his head, "No, it's not Walkers but its damn near just as serious." He said to them. "We are gettin' awful low on supplies, though the ones that Natalie brought when she joined us helped us to wait a while before goin; on another serious run but now we need to be goin' out to get some." He told them with a serious look on his face.

There was a bit of food left but not near enough that everyone would be able to get at least two meals a day; there were too many people and some of whom take more than they should such as Ed Peletier and a few of the older people. You would think older people would give up some of their food for the children but nope….not happening with these ones apparently. There were only two nice ones in the whole camp; the other four elderly were selfish and greedy.

"Why are we even talking about this?" Glenn asked slightly offended as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I've been going into the city and getting the supplies that we needed since we settled here. Why the need to talk about it with other people?" he questioned.

At that Shane looked at him, "I think it would be better if we sent a few people in, safer." He stated seriously.

Glenn shook his head at that, "I've been doing fine on my own, I know my way around the city and haven't had any close calls as of yet. The less people there are with me the easier it is for me to go unnoticed and get supplies that we need." He told them. "If you need me to do multiple trips in a week I can do that." He offered.

"Glenn," Natalie said with a concerned look on her face, she liked the young Asian kid as she was able to geek out with him unlike everyone else in camp. "Doing that by yourself every single time is pushing your luck, each time you go back into the city you are making it more and more unlikely for you to come back unharmed. You might be fast and know your way around but you're not invincible." She said to him.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to respond to Natalie's concern Ed butted in with his useful piece of input, "Let him go and get himself bit, one less mouth to feed then." He stated with an unsympathetic look on his face.

The moment those words left Ed's mouth Natalie moved forward to give him a piece of her mind but before she was able to take three or four steps Merle and Daryl stopped her from inflicting damage on the man.

Merle knew he could be a downright heartless asshole when he wanted to be, but even he thought that Ed was being cold and a tad bit over the top and Merle didn't even like the Asian kid. What he wouldn't do to let Natalie truly go at the man, it would be a sight to see. Not to mention well deserved.

"Natalie's right," Shane said with a quick glance at Natalie and then turning his attention back to Glenn. "It's safer with more people and if there are more people with you then we can have you all bring more supplies back to camp. Supplies that we need, and some that we can stock up on for when we get down to the bare minimum." He said.

Andrea looked at him, "So what are you saying then?" she asked. "You want to send a group of people into Atlanta to bring some supplies back? Like three or four?"

Shane nodded, "Yeah, I think five would be a good number and have two of those people have guns. Should be a good enough number that will let you all bring some supplies on back and able to defend yourselves from the Walkers."

"Are you asking us who wants to go then?" Dale asked as he looked at Shane.

"Yeah, I am." Shane said with a nod.

Lori looked at Shane and then everyone else, "You are going to send more than just two guns, right?" she asked.

"We ain't got enough ammo to spare any more than that." Shane said. "We can give you knives and baseball bats and other things such as that." He said.

When he said that Lori gave him a look and opened her mouth to argue with him but soon realized that it would have been all but futile to do so, Shane wasn't going to listen to her and when he had his mind set on something it stayed on that.

"So," Shane started. "Who wants to go with Glenn on a run, need five more people." He said holding up his fingers.

Natalie had half of a mind to volunteer to go seeing as she was pretty damn good at escaping from tight situations and finding where all of the good stuff was at – when people panic they tend to hide things in weird and very random places. But she knew it was probably a bad idea, for one Daryl definitely wouldn't want her to go since they've only been reunited for a month at the most and knew that Marlie would not take it all that well. So it was probably best to sit this one out, there will be more runs to go on in the future if she so chooses to do so.

"I'll go," Andrea said and looked at Shane. "I want to do more than just wash clothes and cook all of the time."

When she said that Dale gave her a look, "Your sister isn't going to like that all that much." He said to her in concern.

Andrea gave a sigh, "I know," she said but knew that eventually Amy was going to have to accept that Andrea was going to be in danger and wanted to do things to help the camp other than the menial 'women' work they seem to always do.

"I'll go with them too," T-Dog said with a confident nod. "Sick of being stuck here with barely anything useful to do, plus kinda have the urge to kick some geeks ass." He said with a shrug.

At that Shane nodded thankfully, "So that makes three so far; Glenn, Andrea and T-dog. Three more people and then we will be set." He said and looked at the rest of everyone with an expectant look as if he was waiting for them to volunteer themselves to go into Atlanta. "So come on people, as much as this sucks someone's gotta do it." He said to them.

"How come you ain't goin' then?" Daryl asked with narrowed eyes pointed at Shane. "'Stead of askin' us you could volunteer yourself." He said as he shifted his weight in his feet and kicked at some dirt.

Shane gave a good long look at Daryl before he replied, "Someone needs to keep this place in order." He said with a shrug.

Before Daryl was able to respond to that Morales took a step forward, "I'll go too." He said and then gently squeezed his wife's hand to let her know everything would be okay.

Once Morales volunteered himself they only needed one last person to complete the five man job, or rather five person job but after that everyone was just looking at one and another waiting for the next person to volunteer for the job. It was obvious none of the elderly were going to volunteer going, they were too old and didn't move nearly as fast as they used to and as what needed when running from Walkers.

"I will as well," Jacqui said, speaking up for the first time since Shane suggested the idea.

"Seems to me that ya are short one person," Merle said as he walked past Daryl and Natalie so that he could look Shane in the eyes. "Aint ya?" he said with a shit eating grin on his face. "And from the looks of it, it don't seem like anyone else is gonna be volunteerin' their services." He stated.

Andrea looked at Merle skeptically, "So what, you're offering to go?" she asked with an astonished look on her face.

"Exactly what I'm doin' sugar tits." Merle said to her as he looked her up and down, paying close attention to her breasts and then turned towards Shane. "So now ya got five people. When are we leavin' then?"

All Shane wanted to do right now was sigh and scream in frustration, Merle Dixon was definitely not his prime choice of a person to go with on this mission especially considering how racist and how much of an asshole Merle could be. Sending him with an Asian, a Mexican, a black man, and two women one of whom was not the race that Merle preferred. He had a bad feeling about this but they severely needed supplies.

Running his hands through his hair Shane responded, "Tomorrow morning." He said with resignation.

"Wait! What?!" Andrea said as she turned to quickly look at Shane as if he had completely lost his mind. "You're going to just let him go? Are you insane?" she asked.

"Awe sugar tits," Merle said with a disgusting grin on his face. "You worried about old Merle?" he asked.

Andrea ignored him and looked at Shane, "Shane? Seriously?" she asked.

He raised his hands, "We need people, and he has a gun." he said and just as Andrea was about to say something he stopped her. "I'm not changin' my mind." He said with a shrug. "Get some rest tonight." He said to them and then headed off with Lori looking after him with an unsure look on her face.

Once everyone else had left the vicinity leaving only Merle, Daryl and Natalie both Natalie and Daryl looked at Merle as if he had lost his mind. Which he just might have, he's probably going through minor withdrawal seeing as he's had to cut back on his drug use if he wants it to last all that long.

"Are you insane Merle?" Natalie asked as she looked up at her brother-in-law. "I mean you don't even like these people, why in the hell are you willing to go on a supplies run?" she asked him with hands on her hips and fire in her eyes.

At that Merle shrugged, "Somethin' to do other than sit around here on my ass all day like you people seem to enjoy," he said sounding at ad bit assholish. "I'll be fine spitfire." He told her with a smile. "Merle can handle himself perfectly fine. Ain't nothing gonna get me."

"I don't want you to get yourself killed which is where this is going to lead to with you and your drug shit going on." Natalie said to him boldly.

When those words left Natalie's mouth Daryl couldn't help but cringe a bit.

"Jesus fucking hell woman," Merle said trying to control the anger and many swear words and insults that wanted to leave his mouth at the moment. "Stop acting like a mother to me, fucking…stupid…shit. I don't need ya worrying about me." He said and then with that he stalked off and away from Natalie.

Natalie brushed off what Merle said, she's used to his odd mood swings and the swearing and cursing that he does all of the time. He says a lot of things when he is on the drugs that he doesn't mean, sometimes when Family confronts him about things he doesn't want to talk about he takes his anger out on them. It's best to just take it all with a grain of sand.

Daryl looked at his wife and shook his head, "Gotta stop pushin' him like that." He said as he rubbed some dirt off of her face. "You are lucky that he likes you." He told her. "He could be a lot meaner."

"Eh, I can take it," Natalie said as she grabbed Daryl's hand and walked back towards their tent. "You aren't pissed over this or anything?" she asked with a raised brow.

In response to that Daryl gave a shrug, "Nothin' I say will stop him even if I was angry, he can do whatever he wants." He told her.

Raising a brow at him Natalie ran her hands through her long hair, "We both know what he's really doing this for." She whispered.

Merle was running low on drugs, and Merle without drugs turned into an asshole and a man who went through really bad and sometimes weird withdrawal symptoms. The only reason he was really going on the run was so that he could go to anywhere that had a pharmacy so that he could raid their drugs and take what he needed and wanted – it's been a good long while since the man was off of drugs.

"Can't be doin' nothin' about it Nat," Daryl said regretfully. "Merle's gonna do what Merle wants." He said to her.

"Yeah." Natalie said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Leaning down Daryl kissed Natalie gently on the lips before gently rubbing his thumb along her bottom lip and giving her a small smile. He loved feeling her soft skin against his calloused skin and looking down into her dark eyes, Daryl wouldn't want to live a Daryl without Natalie.

"I'm goin' hunting." Daryl said to her suddenly.

Hearing that Natalie pulled back from him a bit and looked up at his face, "When?" she asked curiously.

"Now," he told her and kissed her forehead. "Like the cop said, we are getting low on some stuff and the meat from the squirrels only last a day. Need to go out and get more – sick of eating beans." He told her.

Nodding Natalie wrapped her arms around Daryl in a hug who responded in kind, "How long are you going to be gone?" she asked as she let him go reluctantly, she loved the warmth of his body.

"A couple days," Daryl responded to her with a grimace on his face. "Saw some fresh deer tracks not far from camp today, may be able to track it and then hopefully we can get some venison and make a stew from it. Be better than damn squirrels all of the time." He said off hand.

"Out in the woods for a couple days?" Natalie questioned in concern, not sure if she liked the idea of Daryl going out in the woods by himself with the danger of Walkers.

Daryl nodded in affirmative, "Yeah, we need to go further into the woods to get some food and that Deer will feed most of the camp and give everyone a good meal." He told her.

Sighing a bit Natalie leaned up and kissed Daryl one more time, "Be safe, and don't do anything stupid like get yourself killed. I will have to kill you then." She told him mostly serious.

"Keep that in mind," Daryl said with a half laugh. "Love you woman." He told her.

Hearing that Natalie smiled gently at him, "Love you too Daryl." She stated.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_TWD ~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

Lori was washing some vegetables that they were going to use that night for dinner, canned vegetables but vegetables nonetheless, and then she saw Natalie walking across camp with an armful of dry clothes that belonged to her and her family.

For a while now Lori has noticed that Natalie has been avoiding her, barely talking to her and basically refused any contact with Lori if at all possible. Lori wanted to know what was going on or what she did to piss Natalie off, but as far as she knows she hasn't done anything but be nice to the woman and defended her when Andrea was being rude and insulting to the Dixon's.

"Natalie!" Lori called as she followed Natalie to her and Daryl's tent. "Hey Nat! Can I talk to you?" she asked and gently laid a hand on Natalie's shoulder.

Giving a sigh Natalie reluctantly turned towards Lori and just stared at her for a moment, Lori was looking at Natalie searchingly and with a confused and hopeful expression on her face and as much as Natalie wanted to blow her off she knew that she needed to talk to her and let her know why she was so pissed off at her.

"Yeah," Natalie said with a sigh. "Come in." she told her as she walked through the open flap of the tent and then tossed the clean clothes onto the cot that Marlie usually slept on and started to fold the clothes.

For a few moments the two women sat in relative silence, the only sounds being made was Natalie grabbing clothes, folding them and then putting them in the makeshift clean pile that she was using for herself, Daryl and Marlie. Though for the most part Daryl just grabs whatever is handy be it clean or dirty, he didn't really care as long as it was wearable.

"Are you mad?" Lori asked finally, unable to take the silence any longer.

Natalie paused what she was doing before she finished folding one of Daryl's plaid, sleeveless button up shirts. "Why do you ask?"

At that Lori crossed her arms, "You've barely talked to me all that much lately, you avoid me any chance you get, and you won't even look at me when we are in the same vicinity like right now." She pointed out to her. "What did I do to you that made you act like this with me?" she questioned. "I would get if you were treating Andrea like this but as far as I know you two are okay now." She said.

"We are," Natalie told her. "Andrea and I are cool now." She replied to her.

Lori sighed, "Then what is your problem with me now?" she asked, frustrated over the fact that she didn't know what she did to piss off Natalie.

Natalie knows that she promised Daryl that she wouldn't get in the middle of Lori and Shane's shit but here was Lori confronting her head on which was making it terribly hard for her to not get in their business. It's not like Natalie was going to lie to the woman, she's the kind of person who is straightforward about most things in life.

"Seriously Natalie, I really want to know so I can fix whatever happened." Lori told her sincerely. "Please, look at me."

Throwing down the clothes that were in her hands Natalie turned around and gave a good glare to Lori, "you want to know what is wrong? You really want to know?" she asked.

Lori nodded at her, "Yes. I want to fix this." She told her.

"My problem is that you sold me a sob story about your husband dying and how you missed him and wished that he was here so that you could fix all of the problems that the two of you had, but that apparently was a lie." She said heatedly to the woman.

At that Lori opened and closed her moth a few times but nothing came out, "I…I..How dare you." She said looking at her with narrowed eyes. "I wouldn't lie about something like that. I love my husband and miss him every damn day of this hellish world we are in now. You have no right to say something like that." She told her and pointed at Natalie.

Natalie scoffed when Lori said that to her, "really you wouldn't lie about something like that?" she questioned sarcastically. "Yeah, for some odd reason I can't seem to believe you Lori Grimes." She said to her in anger. "Because you want to know what I saw a while ago out in the woods when me and Daryl were walking back to camp after hunting?" she asked her rhetorically and gave a small smirk when she saw Lori's eyes widen, obviously the woman knew what Natalie was going to say. "I saw Lori and her husband's best friend fucking like bunny rabbits out in the middle of the woods. Lori told me that she missed her husband, loved her husband and would do anything for him to be alive again. But guess what, while mourning her husband she decides to have sex with his friend."

If Natalie was in Lori's position she wouldn't have even dreamed of having sex with anyone for a very, very long time after her husband had been gone, let alone his best friend and more than likely best man in their wedding if she assumed right. One thing Natalie was and that was loyal, and she would have never thought of having sex with someone else when her husband had only been gone for a little while. It was sad to realize that about Lori. Lori was definitely not the kind of person who Natalie first thought she was.

"I…I..I don't know what to say," Lori said to her as she looked down at the ground in front of her.

With a roll of her eyes Natalie went back to folding laundry, "Then don't say anything, just get the hell out of here. I don't want to deal with you and this right now so just leave." She said to her with finality.

As much as Lori wished there was something that she could say to make everything better but she knew that Natalie needed some more time to calm down, so Lori did as Natalie asked and left.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Quotes: Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.  
**Oscar Wilde**

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.  
**Lucius Annaeus Seneca**


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: Not mine as usual, the original characters are though so ha!

A/N: I hope you all are liking this so far, and I am sorry that its taken so long to get into season 1 of the Walking Dead I like to build up on characters and relationships with them before getting into the fun stuff I guess.

A/N2: I love you all and hope you all keep on reviewing!

Chapter eighteen

"Come here you fast little snickerdoodles!" Natalie all but yelled playfully as she was chasing after a few of the kids around camp.

Natalie was attempting to catch a few of the kids but so far she hasn't been that successful…..it's been a good twentyish years give or take since she has been these kids' age and able to run as quickly and for so long. The damn kids could turn faster and much more easily than she could and are able to escape from her just as Natalie thought she was about to catch them. The kids that Natalie was attempting to catch but was failing miserably at was her daughter Marlie, Sophia, and the Morales' kids Eliza and Louis.

"You ain't ever gonna catch us mama!" Marlie yelled back at her mother with a big grin spreading across her face as she grabbed Eliza's hand and ran around the main campfire trying to out run her mother and ran past some of the other campers.

Natalie smiled when Marlie said that to her, "that's what you think girlie!" she said with a laugh and then jumped over a log that the camp was using as seating and then chased after her daughter and Eliza which made the two scream happily and run away from Natalie.

As Natalie was running after the small group of kids around the camp area the other people in camp that were doing a few chores were watching on in amusement at the scene being put on in front of them – Natalie who had just turned twenty-nine a few weeks ago was chasing after four kids, the oldest of whom was twelve years old. It was amusing as hell to see a woman in her late twenties running a round camp and acting like a young kid and having fun with some of the kids who were in camp. It was something that definitely needed to happen more often, people in camp needed to try and let loose once in a while and just have some fun and not worry for a few moments in this post-apocalyptic like world. It's bad for a person's health to worry and be afraid all of the time.

While the kids as well as Natalie were running around and having some well-deserved fun Carol watched on with a small, serene smile on her face and continued sitting on a camping chair and finished going through some of the wild foods that they had managed to scavenge from the woods. Carol was thankful that the children in camp were still able to keep their innocence and have fun in this new world once in a while even if the conditions of the world weren't the greatest at the moment. Until the unforeseeable future, Walkers will be around and will try and eat anything that is alive, and because of that fact the kids have had to do quite a few grown up things that they never would have had to do in the old world but that doesn't mean that they still can't have a childhood. All children deserve a childhood no matter if there are Walkers or not.

"You can't get us!" Eliza yelled as she and Marlie kept on running away from Natalie.

"You're too old to get us!" Louis said with a laugh.

At that Natalie gave a half insulted look to the young boy, "Old? I'm old?" she asked as she was very close to grabbing Sophia by the back of the shirt but she managed to slip out of her reach. "Twenty-nine is not old." She stated dryly.

"Run kids!" Amy yelled at the children encouragingly. "Don't let the mean old lady get you." She joked.

Looking at the kids that she was chasing Natalie was starting to get suspicious, Sophia and Marlie were whispering to one and another while looking at Natalie while they were running and grinning like hyena's. It was a look that Natalie has seen far too often on her daughter's face when she and Merle were plotting and doing something questionable. The girls were definitely planning something, but what the plan was exactly was the question.

"ATTACK!" Marlie suddenly yelled and then jumped on her mother.

Within moments after that was yelled Natalie was then tackled to the ground by four kids who ranged from the age of six up to twelve years old; when they all tackled her to the ground it knocked the wind out of Natalie but thankfully she had some meat on her bones so she could take the force of four kids jumping at her with minimal to no problems.

Messing up her daughter's hair from where they were laying on the ground Natalie squinted at her, "What the hell Marlie," Natalie said with an amused grin on her face as Marlie looked up at her. "You aren't supposed to plot against me with your friends. We're supposed to plot against dad and uncle Merle. Us girls need to stick together," she said and then looked at Louis. "Well….us girls and Louis need to stick together." She added which made the kids laugh a bit.

"Us kids need to stick together," Eliza said with a giggle and sat up from where she had been laying on Natalie. "You adults have more people than us kids do."

Hearing that Natalie gave a small amused smile and nodded in understanding, "So that's how it is, is it?" she asked the younger girl who nodded vigorously. "I see." She said to her.

T-Dog grinned when he saw Natalie with kids laying on her, "Seems you got a bit of a leech problem," he said to her.

Just as Natalie was about to respond to T-Dog's comment there was the sound of someone cursing over by a few of the tents, turning her head a bit from her tackled position Natalie saw the back of Merle who was kicking at the dirt and mumbling to himself. Glenn was passing by Merle as he was going to do who knows what and the moment that Merle saw him he immediately started to curse up a storm and insult Glenn and anything and everything about him that he possibly could, but before Glenn was able to even respond to him Merle wandered off and away from camp.

"Great," Natalie sighed to herself and then looked at Marlie, Louis and Sophia who seemed to still be attached to her at the moment. "Okay kids time to get off of Natalie now," she said to them with a smile. "As much as I love having fun and messing around with you guys and getting my daily work out from chasing after the four of you, I have things that I need to do right now." She told them and gently moved her daughter off of her.

"Awe," they all said in unison.

"Do you have to?" Louis asked as he looked up at Natalie hopefully.

"Yeah Nat, do we have to?" Sophia asked, ever since Natalie started talking to the girl whenever she had the chance and including her in things that she did with Marlie she has gotten a bit more outspoken – at least when her father wasn't around she was.

Natalie laughed at the kids, "Yeah I do, sorry dearies but I gotta do some stuff before it gets too late. Maybe later on this week we can chase everyone around camp. Okay?" she asked and they nodded a bit dejectedly but nodded nonetheless.

"Okay," Eliza and Louis said and then headed off to go find their parents.

"Mama?" Marlie questioned looking up at her mother. "Can I come with you? Please?" she asked hopefully and gave her mother the puppy dog eyes.

Closing her eyes and giving an amused grin Natalie shook her head, her daughter needed to stop using that face. "No Marlie, not this time. I will be back really quick though, I promise." She stated.

Pouting a bit Marlie nodded, "Fine." She said and crossed her arms.

Natalie shook her head, "Thanks for being so understanding." She joked to her daughter before leaning down and kissing her quickly and then gave a way to Sophia as the two girls headed off with one and another.

Taking a deep breath Natalie prepared herself for the conversation that she was more than likely going to be having with Merle, there was most definitely going to be arguing and yelling involved that was inevitable because of the topic of discussion. Natalie knew that she was a bit hard on Merle with his drug shit at times but she couldn't help it, she hoped that maybe something would manage to get through and make sense to him and he would just decide to give it all up but so far it hasn't happened.

Walking a bit past where the tents were and then giving a glare to the tent that Natalie knew was Lori's, she walked through bit of the woods until she ended up near where a couple of the vehicles that weren't used all that often were at. Leaning against an old Mazda that was from the 90's, Natalie watched Merle who was attempting to get into the van that she had picked up as she made her way to Georgia.

"Keys would be handier." Natalie stated off hand making Merle jump a bit.

Turning from trying to force the door of Natalie's van open Merle glanced at Natalie, "Ya offerin' them up?" he questioned looking at her skeptically.

At that Natalie gave him a dark look, "Fuck no!" she stated adamantly. "Shouldn't even be trying to break into MY van Merle, I mean I'm family and as far as I thought family didn't steal from one and another but I guess I was wrong. Wasn't I?" she questioned as she looked at him a bit disappointedly.

"Things change spitfire." Merle stated to her and pushed himself away from Natalie's van. "New world, new rules."

"No Merle," Natalie said with a shake of her head. "There aren't new rules, but there are people who are willing to take advantage of it. I hoped that this shit would help you see-" Natalie stopped herself midsentence.

Merle knew that Natalie was disappointed in him and he knew that he had fucked up big time but he couldn't help himself, he knew that he had a problem…a big problem that would get even worse over the years if the world kept on going the way it was going. Drugs would only last for so long and eventually they would run out. There was no doubt about that.

"See what Nat?" Merle asked as he stepped closer to where she was at. "What am I 'spose to be seein' huh? What?" he asked opening his arms in a questioning move.

Giving an annoyed sigh Natalie started pacing a bit, "You are supposed to see what is going on, you are supposed to see that all of this drug shit is goin' to get you killed if you don't do something about it." She told him with a scowl on her face. "You need to fucking stop Merle." She told him.

Merle laughed a bit that, "Now why in the hell would I do that when I enjoy it so much?" he asked her.

"To save your fucking life Merle," Natalie said in frustration and grasped at her hair. "Do you want to die Merle? Do you?" she asked him seriously and looked him in the eyes.

"Nothin' is gonna be killing me Natalie, ain't nothing strong enough." He said to her confidently. "Walker's aren't going to be getting me."

At that Natalie shook her head, "You are going to get yourself killed Merle, you will and I don't want to see you die Merle. You're family and no matter what you do or say, and no matter if you did just try and break into my car to look for some drugs I still care about you and don't want to see you get yourself killed over some measly drugs." She stated.

When Natalie said that Merle looked at her and scoffed, "Measly drugs? That what ya think of 'em? Huh?" he asked and stared at her intently. "Ecstasy ain't no measly drug woman, neither is half the other shit I dealt in besides you should be happy, I never brought that shit to you and Daryl's house. Did I?"

"Who are you dealing to now Merle?" Natalie asked fiercely with her hands on her hips. "Do you have clientele? Because no one in camp seems to be the buying type, and I know it definitely ain't the damn Walkers." She stated.

Merle hit the side of Natalie's van with his fist in anger, "What the fuck do you care?" he questioned looking at her with a glare.

The moment those words left Merle's mouth Natalie couldn't help but look at him in astonishment, "Really Merle? You wonder why I care so much?" she asked him with her hands on her hips. "I care because you're family. I care about you no matter how much of an ass you can be." She stated and subtly wiped at the angry tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Whatever." Merle said with an uncaring shrug.

Natalie really hated when Merle got in his drug induced moods; he could be an asshole, he could be nice as anything, he could be uncaring or he could be more anti-social than ever. You can never be too sure, especially when you don't know which drug he took.

Blinking a b it Natalie looked at Merle who was furrowing his brows and crossed his arms across his chest, "I don't care about your pot and you dealing your pain pill shit, that's not that bad of stuff and when that was all that you did you weren't that bad. I grew up with a father who was a pot dealer so I was used to that kind of stuff." She told him.

"Why in the hell didn't ya save him then? How come you let him die then?" Merle asked a bit coldly to his sister-in-law.

Hearing that was like a slap in the face to Natalie but she brushed it off, "Because he was a lost cause Merle, he was too far fucking gone by the time anyone had the balls to try and get him to stop. He drank all his life from sun up to sun down, and did drugs constantly ever since he was a teenager. I lost my hope for him when I was fifteen years old but I haven't lost hope for you Merle….not yet I haven't." she told him angrily.

Merle looked at Natalie and shook his head, "You know what Nat, stay outta my fuckin' problems I don't need no advice from you. You feel bad 'cause ya couldn't save your dad and because you basically let him die, well too fuckin' bad deal with the fact that you were a shitty daughter. I don't care. Just stay outta my drug shit." He said with a heated glare on his face.

"Fine," Natalie said barely able to contain the emotions that she was feeling at the moment. "See ya." She said and then stalked back to camp and hopefully she would be able to get to her tent without being bothered by much of anyone, she just wanted a bit of time by herself.

Once Natalie was out of sight Merle knew that he had made a mistake with what he had said to her, especially when he brought up her father and the reason that he had died. He had met Natalie's dad a few times before he died the summer of the year he and Daryl had met Natalie, he saw how her father had progressed with his alcoholism and drug addiction and it was something that he didn't want to become and it had scared him for a good long while – he didn't stop completely but he cut back a good amount. Merle shouldn't have said the shit that he did but it's too late now to take it back now.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ 10:30 am - Camp ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

It was around time for T-Dog, Andrea, Morales, Jacqui, Glenn and Merle to leave camp and head on in to Atlanta so that they could pick up some supplies that the camp needed desperately. Originally they had planned on leaving early that morning, at around seven or eight at the latest but they had a slight delay and had to wait a while to leave. There would be more Walkers out at this time of day but it would be manageable for the most part.

"Okay people!" Shane yelled out. "Time for you guys to get headed out, don't need ya guys out at night with the Walkers. Bad things can happen." He said and looked around the camp. "You guys got fifteen minutes then ya are outta here."

So with that being said by the self-appointed leader of the camp the people who were going with Glenn on a supplies run went to their designated families to say goodbye to them, anytime someone went out they had a possible chance of getting killed by the Walkers.

Rubbing the back of his head Merle went off to go and find Natalie and Marlie, as pissed as Natalie is at the moment she would kill him if he didn't say bye to her and Marlie. He hoped to apologize to Natalie as well, or apologize as much as he is able….he's not the apologizing type really.

"Uncle Merle!"

Hearing the voice of his niece Merle turned around and saw the small curly haired girl running at him at full speed, so bending down to her level Merle caught Marlie around the waist and spun her around a bit before stopping and just giving her a tight hug.

"How's the little demon?" Merle asked as he set his six year old niece down on the ground.

Marlie made a face at Merle but then smiled, "I chased mama all over the camp this s'mornin' with Sophia, Eliza and Louis. Then…..then we tackled her to the ground." She said with a wide grin and talked with her hands as she was telling Merle what she did.

At that Merle glanced at Natalie before looking back at Marlie, "Did ya?" he asked with a small smirk on his face. "Ya didn't hurt her did ya?" he asked.

"Nah uh," Marlie said with a shake of her head. "Mom's the strongest mom ever, nothing can hurt her." she said with a convinced tone of voice, anyone who would say different would be wrong in Marlie's eyes.

Merle smiled at that, "I know, she's a strong lady your mom. Strongest woman I've ever met." He told her and then gave Natalie a look, a look that he hoped told her that he was sorry for some of the shit that he had said to her a bit earlier that day. "So you are gonna be good for your ma while I'm gone right?" he asked.

"I will do my bestest." Marlie said with a big smile. "You are coming back right?" she asked as she stared up at her uncle.

"Course I am, no one is gonna be keepin' me from coming back to my family," Merle said to her seriously. "When I come back I'm gonna be sure to bring you somethin' mighty special back." He said to her.

Marlie thought a moment before looking across camp and then back at her uncle, "And Sophia. Bring Sophia something." She told him with determination.

"I can do that," Merle said as he looked over where Sophia was with her mom and dad.

"Good!" Marlie said to him happily. "Love you uncle Merle." Marlie said one last time before she wrapped her arms around his legs in a hug and then ran off. "Bye!" she said with a wave.

At that Merle couldn't help but give a small chuckle, one moment the girl is saying how she loved you and wanted to be sure you were coming back and then next she was off like a race horse. Children were definitely amusing at times.

"See ya Merle," Natalie said to Merle and went to walk off to go help with something in camp but before she was able to Merle had grabbed her lightly by the arm. "Merle, I have stuff that I need to do. I'll see ya when you get back." She told him.

When she said that Merle shook his head, "I need to say somethin' to ya Nat, just give me a second." He said and let go of Natalie's arm and took a moment to inhale. "I was…I acted like an ass….I didn't…or shouldn't have been actin; like that to you." He told her. "Shouldn't of been ya know, tryin' to be getting into your car and lookin' for drugs and shit. Definitely shouldn't have said the shit I did 'bout your father. Me and Daryl were there for ya when he died and when you had to deal with all of the shit afterwards." He told her and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

Seeing how awkward Merle was feeling apologizing to her Natalie couldn't help but smile a bit, she was still angry at Merle for saying some of the shit that he did but he was family and you forgive family…..eventually.

"Are you Merle Richard Dixon, apologizing to me?" Natalie asked with a shit eating grin on her face. "I think this is the first time you've officially apologized to me with words." She joked to him.

Merle rolled his eyes when Natalie said that, "Whatever. Are ya gonna take the apology or are ya just gonna make fun of me?" he questioned her grudgingly.

Smiling Natalie gave Merle a quick hug, "I'm still pissed at you for some of the shit you said but I forgive you, I like you too much to be angry at you the whole time. Plus I am not in the mood to be angry at anyone else right now….I already have Lori and Shane on the shit list. I do not have enough room for another person to be on there." She somewhat joked to him.

Hearing that Merle laughed loudly, it was no secret to Merle and Daryl that Natalie was not a big fan of Shane and Lori. In fact, if Daryl would let him Merle would gladly let Natalie fight it out with Shane and Lori and he would have no doubt in his mind that Natalie would come out the victor.

"I'm sorry Nat," Merle said, just so that Natalie knew that he was serious about being sorry for what he said.

Natalie gave a small smile, "I know." She told him and patted the side of his face. "Do me a favor though." She said and looked at him.

He raised a brow at that, "What's that?" Merle asked.

"Stay alive and don't get yourself killed." Natalie told him.

Merle grinned at that, "Nothin' is gonna kill me but me. Promise you that." He told her.

Hearing that Natalie gave a soft smile before she suddenly grabbed Merle in a tight hug for a moment, just wanting to convey to him that she cared for him and that she did want him to come back to camp alive…..at least she did that silently, she may have not said it in words but Merle understood or at least Natalie hoped so.

"Gotta go now Nat," Merle said as he looked down at his sister-in-law. "Copper is gonna get his panties in a twist if I don't get my ass up there." He said and pointed towards the main camp area with his thumb.

"Go on," Natalie said with a shooing motion. "Don't get on anyone's nerves too much and please, try to not be so racist." She pleaded but knew it was hopeless.

Merle grinned at Natalie, "Ain't gonna promise you anything."

So with that said Merle headed off so that he could head into Atlanta with the rest of the group that volunteered to go and get supplies, all Natalie hoped for was that he stayed safe, alive and that he didn't do or say anything stupid but with it being merle they were talking about that was always iffy especially when he was on his drugs. All she could do was hope for the best.

!_!_!_! TWD !_!_!_!_!_!_!_!_!

A/N: Sorry I'm too lazy and tired to put a quote here today! Forgive me!


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Not mine as usual, only my OC's are. Love them.

A/N: sooooo I did try and get this out last week and this last weekend but it just wasn't happening sorry about that. Hope this chapter makes up for the wait. please don't kill me.

A/N2: I have decided that chemistry is evil. jsut wanted ot put htat out htere sicne i am having problems with my chem class this semester.

Chapter nineteen

It was pretty quiet and calm for the most part in camp, something that was quite rare to happen considering that there were five rambunctious and often loud children running about in camp, all of whom were between the ages of six years old to twelve. Thankfully though, both Natalie and Carol had come up with some sort of project for the kids to do that would keep the five of them occupied and keep their minds off of everything that was happening...at least for a while it would.

While the kids were off with Natalie and Carol doing their project, everyone else that was in the main part of camp were doing small, yet tedious tasks around camp such as folding the clean laundry and putting it by their designated owners tents, washing the breakfast and lunch dishes, checking the water supply and things along those lines. Some of the chores that needed to be done could be repetitive and boring at times, but no matter how tedious the tasks were they needed to be done – the small chores were usually the ones that made camp ran smoothly.

"Hello, hello?" a voice said suddenly, coming over the CB radio that was situated near the middle of the camp.

The moment the voice had come over the radio, Amy who had been walking near it at the time, dropped the sticks that she had been gathering up for kindling and quickly knelt d own next to it and grabbed the mic to try and communicate with whoever had radioed them. "Hello? Yes, we're here! Hello?" she asked into it with a rushed tone of voice.

"Can you hear me?" the male voice said over the static of the radio.

Clutching the old mic of the CB radio Amy responded to the man, Yes, I can hear you. You're coming through. Over." She stated and waited with earnest for the man over the radio to respond back to her.

While Amy was manning the radio and attempting to make contact with this unknown person, Dale and Lori had gotten up from their seated position on the pair of car seats that they had taken from one of the old and barely working vans. Both stood near Amy and waited for the man to respond, it's been so long since they've heard the radio make a sound, not since a week or less after shit hit the fan.

The radio crackled again as the man's voice came through once again, "If there is anybody who reads, please respond." He stated, talking as if he didn't hear anything that Amy had said through the CB radio. "I am broadcasting on Emergency Channel. I will be approaching Atlanta on highway 85. If anybody reads, please respond." He repeated with an eerily calm, yet serious voice.

"We're just outside of the city," Amy stated, hoping that whoever this man was could hear her and that she would be able to warn him about Atlanta being a lost cause. "Hello? Hello?" she repeated a few times and then looked over at Dale worriedly. "He couldn't hear me. I wasn't able to warn him."

Dale gestured at the radio, "Try again. Try to get ahold of him again." He responded and then looked over at where Shane was chopping up some wood for the camp; they used the wood for cooking and keeping warm during the cool summer nights. "Come on, son. You know best how to work this thing." He said to him.

At that Amy glanced at Dale, "I think Natalie would be the best," she said and scooted away from the radio so Shane could try and make the radio work. "She used to work at a radio station before, and went to school for broadcast." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Shane looked over at Amy as he stuck his axe into a tree stump that was nearby. "Well Amy, she ain't up here at the moment to help us so I'm gonna have to do for now." He said nonchalant and then turned his attention to the radio and grasped the mic in his hand. "Hello, hello." He stated. "Is the person who called still on the air?" he questioned but in response to that statement all he received was the static of the air…..all the radio seems good for was making static.

Meanwhile Shane was trying to make contact with whoever it was that had radioed on the Emergency Broadcast, Lori paced just behind where Amy and Shane were seated next to the CB radio. This strange man's voice was the first thing that the camp has heard since the radio stations continued playing the same message on loop – they just repeated the same three lines over and over again with no reprieve. Lori had nearly lost any hope of ever seeing anyone who wasn't already apart of their camp, but hearing this man's voice had given Lori hope, hope that there are more people out there who aren't Walkers or aren't being eaten by them.

"This is Office Shane Walsh, broadcasting to person unknown. Please respond." Shane said into the mic but just as expected the only sound that emitted from it was static and a few crackling noises. "He's gone." Shane stated with a heavy sigh.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD~_~_~_~_~

Down in the quarry sitting on a few of the rocks/boulders that were near the water's edge was Natalie, Carol, Sophia, Eliza, Louis, Marlie and Carl. All of whom were helping with cleaning up and learning about a few plants that Natalie had managed to snag when she had last gone into the woods to see if there was anything that could be of use, Shane had put up a fit when Natalie trued to go off into the woods by herself and lectured her about the rules that no one could go alone. In response to that Natalie just raised a brow at Shane, gave him an unamused look and stalked over to where Merle had been lounging around at and before he was able to ask her what was going on she grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him off into the woods to help her.

Daryl had been off with Marlie and Sophia teaching them some kind of outdoorsy thing that would more than likely be of use to them later in life, especially with the world as it was nowadays. He wouldn't admit it but Daryl liked kids, Sophia especially since Marlie was so attached to her and not to mention Sophia was sweet and quiet and was great at listening to directions. Natalie has been trying to get her to talk more a d be more outspoken but with the father that Sophia had, it was hard to do and make it so that Sophia wouldn't get in trouble.

"All righty children," Natalie said as she laid out a few plants down in front of herself, Carol and the kids. "Does anyone know what these are?" she asked and gestured towards the purple and white plants.

Immediately Eliza spoke up, "They're flowers!" she said excitedly.

Kids always seemed excited when they knew an answer, it was good for kids to answer questions that they knew, it helped build confidence in a learning environment.

Carol looked at Eliza softly, "Yes Eliza, they're flowers." She stated.

"Yes," Natalie said with a nod. "That is right Eliza, but I was more so looking for what kind of flowers they are." She said and looked at the five of them expectantly. "Anyone know?" she asked.

For a moment all of the children looked at one and another, silently asking if any of them knew the answer to the question that Natalie was asking but the only thing they did really was shrug.

Carl hesitantly raised his hand, "Are those one's really tiny and weird looking violets?" he asked as he looked up at Natalie and Carol.

"Good attempt Carl, but no." Natalie told him with a half-smile on her face.

Carol patted Carl's back lightly, "It was a good guess Carl," she told him with a nod of her head.

At that Natalie smiled before she held both of the flowers in her hands, "This one," she said shaking her left hand that had the purple flower in it. "Is the Hepatica or it is also known as liverleaf or liverwort." She said which made a few of the kids scrunch up their faces in disgust at the word wort. "I know weird names." She stated with a wink.

"It's so pretty!" Marlie said as she looked on in earnest at the flowers her mother was holding.

"They are," Carol responded and then waited for Natalie to finish her explanation of the flower.

Smiling over at Marlie and then looking at the rest of the kids Natalie continued with her small flower lesson, "This flower comes in pink, purple, blue and white and has five petals. Did you know America isn't the only place that this plant is found?" she asked them.

"Where else is it at?" Eliza asked curiously.

"In Europe, Asia and Japan even." Natalie explained wide eyed, which made Louis, Carl and Marlie laugh a bit. "These guys can even start blooming in late winter, surprising considering most plants die in the winter time." She told them. "But we do live in Georgia, and the winter's here aren't that bad."

Carol looked over at Natalie, "Why are they able to survive?" she asked, trying to engage the kids in what Natalie was trying to teach them.

For a moment Natalie thought on that question, a good portion of the things that she did know about the plants here in Georgia was mostly because Daryl and Merle taught them to her (not that they would ever admit that) but she truly didn't know why some plants did the things that they did.

"I haven't got a clue to tell ya the truth," Natalie said with an upturn of her lips. "Never really got around to learning that." She said and gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Want to know something cool about this plant?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Sophia and Marlie said with excitement and nodded their heads happily, this was the first time that the girls, or any of the kids in camp have really been able to have fun learning something that would be useful to them later on in life.

Smiling in amusement at the kids antic's Natalie continued, "This plant here, was once thought to be a good way to treat bad livers which helps our bodies filter and process things in our body and a whole lot of other things that I don't know because I was never the best at science." She said which made the kids laugh a bit at her. "This can be poisonous if you take large amounts of it, but it can be used to help pains and a few other minor wound uses."

Hearing that the kids looked on in interest, well four of the five that were down by the water did, Carl was only mildly interested in what Natalie was trying to tell all of them.

"What is the other one?" Carol asked as she pointed over at the white flower.

Natalie smiled down at the flower, "This," she said and looked up at the kids. "Is a May Apple." She stated. "It can get up to a foot or so tall, and had large leaf that I've seen to be three or four inches big." She said showing the length with her fingers. "It produces a fruit as you can see right here." She said pointing at the small fruit that had developed on it.

"Cool!" Louis said as he touched the fruit lightly. "Can we eat it?"

"Only in very small amounts at a time," Natalie answered. "If you eat too much it could be bad for you and then you would get really sick from it which is something we should probably try and avoid." She told her. "We don't exactly have hospitals anymore." She told them with a grimace on her face.

Carol looked at Natalie curiously, "What are its uses?" she asked.

Natalie looked down at the white flower before looking at Carol and the kids, "Back in the day Native American's used this flower as a way to make people throw up things they shouldn't have ate and other things that are kind of gross to talk about so we will skip over that part. But they also boiled the root and used the water to cure stomach aches."

For a little while after that Natalie and Carol taught them about a few more uses of some flowers and other plants that they brought with them, such as you could use Dandelions for a herbal tea when there was nothing else around, and that honey could be used as a sugar substance when you needed something sweet and things like that.

Eventually though the kids got bored with talking about plants and flowers and the group then just started to talk about anything that came to mind really; Sophia, Marlie and Eliza started to talk about things they missed the most while the boys tried to catch minnows that were swimming near the shallow part of the water. As talented as Carol and Natalie were at keeping the kids attention and trying to teach them something you could only do so much before they lost interest – better to do it in small intervals, more likely to stick that way at least in the long run it will.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ A Few Hours Later ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Both Natalie and Marlie were sitting near the main camp area and at the moment Natalie was brushing her daughter's hair after the six year old had taken a bath by the quarry – it may have just been cold quarry water and homemade soap that Natalie had made but it was better than nothing. Natalie would do damn near anything to haven even the most lukewarm of water to use to wash in and wash clothes in, god that would be a true miracle.

Marlie had a secret skill….a skill that only her family knew about. The innocent, sweet and adorable six year old girl seemed to have a talent for getting her hair into the most unruly of messes and knots that took a lot of patience, time and magic to get into a manageable state – every time it needed that kind of effort Natalie seemed to get stuck with the job. Daryl always disappeared off to who knows where.

"Owwie!" Marlie cried a bit and grabbed at the area that her mother had tugged a bit too hard on. "Mama that hurts, it hurts real bad." She said glanced behind her at her mother and narrowed her eyes.

Natalie suppressed an amused smile and patted her daughters head in apology, "Sorry about that Mar, we're almost done. I promise." She stated and started to comb out the curls once again. "If you want to keep your hair long Marlie Cherianne, you are going to need to brush it more than once a week. Or else we are going to have to cut it all off." She said, stating the last part of the sentence in a dramatic whisper.

"Never!"

Hearing the conviction in her daughter's voice Natalie gave a snort of laughter, "Then you are just gonna have to learn to comb your hair at least once a day, or at the least every other day any less than that and I will cut your hair off…..in fact I will let your uncle do it and who knows what kind of twisted hair style he would give you." She joked to her. "You are gonna have to get over your stubbornness of hating to comb your hair."

Marlie scrunched her face up in concentration for a moment before she glanced behind her and looked at her mom, "What's stubborn mean mama?" she asked.

"It means that you are actin' a bit too much like ya daddy when he wants to get his way." Natalie joked and shook her head at the memory of the many stubborn moments of Daryl Dixon.

Marlie giggled at that, "Mom!" she said. "Daddy say's you are just as stubborn as he is. He says that I get my stubbornness from you." She told her.

At that Natalie set the brush down that she was using on Marlie's hair and leaned forward to look into her daughter's eyes, "Really? Is that so?" she questioned to which Marlie gave a nod. "Well then, guess we are gonna have to tell dad that he's the stubborn one, not mom. Mom is never stubborn." She said to her with half seriousness.

Finally after battling with Marlie's hair for a good half an hour or more Natalie was finished and had made it into neat and manageable brownish/blonde curls, thought the neatness of her hair would probably only last a few hours before they were in a mess once again. They really needed to pick up some more hair ties, the things broke so easily that the camp went through them quite fast.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ With Merle: Atlanta ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Merle!" Andrea quietly yelled when she saw the man snooping around in stores that definitely didn't have anything that would be of use to the camp in them. "What in the hell are ya doing?" she asked. "They don't have any of the supplies that we need."

Merle turned from the store he was walking near and looked at Andrea lecherously, "Don't ya be worryin' ya pretty lil' head Blondie, you just be lookin' for what we need and mind ya own damn business and I will do my thing and make sure none of ya get 'it by them damn bastards." He stated before he looked Andrea up and down and winked at her.

At that Andrea gave Merle a look, these sexist comments and perverted looks that she was continuously receiving from Merle were getting a bit old and repetitive, not to mention kind of revolting. She's done her best to be at the least, civil to Merle for Natalie's sake but it's getting really hard for Andrea to keep on doing so when he looks at her like that and says the shit he says.

Andrea shook her head at Merle, "Whatever Merle, I don't care just don't do anything stupid." She said to him and then stalked off to scavenge some of the other things that they will need to keep on living as comfortably as they can back in the quarry – winter comes and it's going to be hell living in that quarry.

Raising a curious brow at Andrea's retreating figure, Merle shrugged to himself and then quickly glanced around to be sure that there wasn't anyone watching him and then headed off towards where he saw a few toys – he promised Marlie that he'd bring something back for her and there wasn't anyway in hell that he was going to break that promise. Marlie was the one person that he's never broken a promise to and he wasn't about to start. He loved that little girl with all his heart and he wouldn't be able to look in her face again if he disappointed her like he did Daryl and Natalie.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~TWD~_~_`-~_~_~_~TWD~_~_~_~_~~_

There was a sudden commotion coming from the front of the camp where a good portion of the barely used vehicles were located at, the only thing that could be going on right now would be that Andrea, T-Dog, Merle, Glenn, Jacqui and Morales were back from their scavenging trip into the city.

"Mom!" Marlie said excitedly and scrambled up from her seated position. "They're back! Uncle Merle is back!" she said happily and before Natalie was able to say or do much of anything else Marlie ran off towards the front of camp where a good portion of everyone else was going to.

Giving a shake of her head at her daughter's excitement Natalie stood up from the lawn chair that she had been lounging in with her daughter and followed after where Marlie had ran off to so that they could reunite with Merle – she worried about the man, when he was all drugged up, or even when he wasn't Merle did and said things that would make lesser people leave him like dust in the wind.

"What in the fuck?" Natalie whispered to herself when she stepped into the front of camp and saw an unusual sight, a sight that she definitely was not expecting.

Standing not ten feet from where she and Marlie were at Natalie saw Lori and Carl, who at the moment were stuck in a tight embrace with some strange man that Natalie has never seen in camp before – she definitely would have noticed this man, he basically leaked authority and the stereotypical southern gentleman. It took Natalie a few moments but she soon realized that this new man was Lori's husband, the husband that was supposed to have died and the husband ho she basically cheated n with is best friend.

"Dear lord." Natalie said, only imagining the drama that was going to be playing out from now on considering the relationship that Lori and Shane had and now that Lori's husband was alive…..shit was definitely going to go down now.

Glancing Shane's way Natalie gave a grimace at the face the man was making, at the moment Shane had all sorts of emotions splayed across his face it ranged from happiness, to regret and to bitterness. The combination of those emotions was definitely not a good thing, or at least Natalie didn't think they were. Anyone who had half a brain cell could tell that Shane didn't want Rick there, and that he would have rather that his best friend never was found again because that way he would be able to take his place. Things don't always go as they are planned.

"Uncle Merle!" Marlie yelled as she walked past everyone that had just gotten back from the city and started to look around for her favorite uncle. "Uncle Merle where are you?" she asked walking past where Andrea and Amy were embracing and then looked in the van that they had driven back from Atlanta but didn't see hide or hair of Merle. "Where's my uncle! Where's my uncle Merle?!" She demanded.

Natalie figured her brother in law was just messing around and playfully hiding from Marlie, but after taking a good look around camp Natalie noticed that the older man was nowhere to be seen and that was something uncharacteristic of Merle. Merle loved to be the center of attention and would more than likely be wanting to boast to Natalie or anyone that he could annoy with what he did in Atlanta and tell them how many Walkers he managed to kill.

"Where's Merle?" Natalie asked as she looked around at the people who had just gotten back from Atlanta. "Well?" she asked with raised brows.

A few people opened their mouths to try and explain to Natalie what happened to Merle but all that anyone was able to manage was a few indiscernible sounds and silence, there really was no easy way to tell the woman what exactly happened in Atlanta and why Merle wasn't there in camp with them at the moment.

Seeing as no one was offering up any bit of information on where her brother in law was at the moment, Natalie instead stalked up and over to where Glenn was standing and looked him in the eyes At least he would be straightforward and honest with her about what happened in Atlanta, okay so it was more because Glenn couldn't lie for shit and was a bit skittish but whatever.

"Glenn," Natalie said seriously and looked at the younger man. "Where's Merle and why in the hell isn't he here right now?" she asked in a deadly calm tone of voice, a tone that she learned from her husband.

Glenn swallowed nervously and shifted his weight from one foot to the other and scratched the back of his head, he had no idea how to tell Natalie that merle was left in Atlanta and worst of all he had no idea how she was going to take the news. At times Natalie was calm and an all-around nice person, but at other times she could be a mean, vicious and spirited person who it was best to stay away from for a while until she calmed down. Right now Glenn couldn't gauge which way she was going to go – the nice and sweet one or the vicious and spirited one.

Seeing as Glenn didn't respond right away Natalie stepped a bit closer to him, "Glenn." She stated. "Tell me, where is my brother in law?" she said seriously.

"Uhhh you see," Glenn started and then paused to try and think of a gentle way of telling Natalie what happened. "Merle-"

Before Glenn could continue on with struggling with his explanation to Natalie, which he was nervously trodding his way through, Lori's husband stepped up next to Glenn and looked at Natalie softly and apologetically. "I am sorry but Merle was becoming a danger to everyone and to the mission, he was acting erratically and bringing Walkers down on us I was forced to handcuff him to the roof so he wouldn't do anything stupid." He told her honestly.

"Uncle Merle's dead?" Marlie asked frantically as she clung to her mother's leg and rubbed her tear filled eyes against her jeans.

Hearing the devastation in her daughter's voice Natalie looked at Rick with a piercing glare, "No he's not Mar, uncle Merle is too tough for that." She said hoping she sounded as confident as she meant it. "Right?" she asked. "Merle isn't dead."

Rick nodded at her, "Ma'am when we left him there up on the roof he was not dead." He told her.

When he said that Natalie took a deep breath, hoping that it would be able to calm her temper down but it didn't do anything to help and if anything, it made it worse. Natalie didn't used to have a bad temper, when she was in elementary and high school she could keep her cool where most people would lose it but as soon as she started dating Daryl and thought of him and Merle as family she got more defensive of them and would defend them with her last dying breath.

"You fucking….stupid…mother-" Natalie said and then disentangled herself from her daughter and gently pushed her towards Carol who pulled the girl into a comforting hug. "So because Merle, was acting like an all-around ass and douche bag you guys decided that cuffing him to a god damn roof in the middle of Atlanta was the best course of action?" she questioned fiercely and stared at every member of the group that had gone into Atlanta.

Hesitantly Rick raised his hands in what he hoped was a calming manner, "Ma'am there were extenuating circumstances that required me to do what I did to Merle." He told her patiently and calmly. "Circumstances that –"

Natalie snorted, "Don't give me none of your 'extenuating circumstances' excuses Officer," she said to him mockingly and pointed at him. "You, are supposed to be a police office, you are supposed to protect people, treat people fairly, and make sure that civilians are safe and kept alive. You are supposed to treat others humanely." She told him and blinked way the tears that she could feel forming on her own face, Natalie had to be strong and not let the tears fall…she had to be strong for Marlie. "You may dress as a police officer but you sure are doing a shitty ass job of it. Leaving a chained man to the roof of a building in the Georgia summer with no weapons to defend himself with."

T-Dog knew that it was partly his fault why Merle was handcuffed to the roof of that building; he was the one who had the key and tripped and dropped it when he was going to unlock Merle, and he dropped the tools that might have been able to set him free as well. He acted cowardly though, he got scared of the Walkers that were starting to come in through the broken windows in the first level and left Merle there.

"It's not all Rick's fault Nat," T-Dog stated taking a few steps towards where Natalie was all but pacing. "I dropped the key," he said with a lowered gaze before looking at Marlie and then at Natalie. "I chained the door though and-"

Holding up her hand to T-dog Natalie shook her head, "Don't T-Dog, just-" she shook her head and stopped herself from finishing whatever she was about to say.

Marlie turned away from Carol and looked at her mother and the other adults that her mother was arguing with, she may only be six years old but she could understand enough to know that something happened to her uncle and that they all left him chained to a building.

"You!" Marlie said walking away from Carol and pointing up at Rick. "You are a big meanie head!" she said and puffed up her chest and gave him the most menacing glare she could come up with. "I don't like you!" she said as tears started rolling down her face and ran off towards her parents tent so that she could collapse on her bed and cry.

Staring after her daughter, Natalie ran her hands through her long hair, closed her eyes for a moment to try and regain the calm that she so desperately needed and then looked at everyone with disappointment. "Are you all proud of yourselves?" she asked them. "Are you proud of what you did to my brother in law, are you proud that you made my six year old daughter cry. Do you like that feeling?"

"Look Natalie we all know that Merle had a problem, and it was going to get him-" Morales started to say but before he could utter another word Natalie turned towards him sharply and glared.

Natalie shook her head at Morales and then stared at Rick for a moment before glancing around at everyone who was in the immediate vicinity, "YOU all get to tell Daryl what happened and don't expect me to be helping you guys in anyway wit that whole situation. Have fun with that." She stated with finality and then stalked away from the group and towards her tent so that she could try and comfort her daughter and try and calm herself down….she just needed to channel her inner strength.

Once Natalie had left hearing distance Rock turned towards Morales and the others who rescued him from Atlanta and gave them all a questioning glance, "Who was that?" he asked. "I thought you all said that Daryl would be the only one who'd miss Merle."

T-Dog gave a sigh, "That, my dear friend, is Merle's sister in law Natalie, and Daryl's wife." He explained heavily. "She's very protective of her family and really our only hope in keeping Daryl calm once we tell him what happened to Merle."

"Yeah," Glenn said glancing in the direction that Natalie had stalked off in. "Fat change of her helping us. She's pissed as hell at us and is probably gonna let Daryl tear us apart and skin us." He said desolately.

~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ TWD ~_~_~_~_~_~_~

After confronting everyone with the fact that they had left Merle in the middle of Atlanta handcuffed to the rooftop of a building Natalie did her best to comfort her daughter, Marlie loved Merle almost like a second parents – they were two peas in a pod. Natalie did try and told her that Merle was a tough bastard and could overcome anything that was thrown at him but even she was doubtful and emotional over the whole thing.

For the rest of the day Natalie and Marlie stayed away from the main part of camp, and away from people in general and only left to get food for dinner that night and thankfully Carol had been nice enough to prepare some plates for the two to take back to their tent so they could eat in privacy.

"I love you mommy," Marlie said as she snuggled under the covers of her mom and dad's bed and pressed herself as close to her mother as she could and clutched her stuffed otter tightly.

Natalie smiled and gently ran her hand through her daughter's hair and pushed it to one side before she kissed her forehead, "I love you too Marlie, I love you so much that I can't contain it." She stated with a soft and serene smile on her face. "I would do anything for you little chillen."

Marlie smiled at that and then pulled a bit away from her mom and looked up at her, "You don't think Uncle Merle gots ate do ya?" she asked. "That man Rick is super duper mean."

"I think your uncle Merle is still alive, he is one tough man." Natalie said with a smirk on her face as she looked into Marlie's blue eyes. "Nothin' is going to eat him Marlie. He'll be just fine. Okay." She told her. "And Rick, I am not his biggest fan right now but there are things about your uncle that you are too young to know about and they ended up with him doing what he did. He did have to calm your uncle down but he should have found a different way." She stated.

For a moment Marlie thought on that and snuggled back up to her mom, "I don't have to like him do I?" she asked.

Natalie laughed when she said that, "No you don't have to like him but you do have to be nice." She said and playfully pinched her daughter on the side.

"Mommy!" Marlie giggled.

Rolling over onto her stomach to sleep Natalie laid her head down on her pillow and closed her eyes, "Time to sleep."

"Night mama." Marlie said one last time before she too curled up on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Natalie may have closed her eyes and acted like she was sleeping but she was far from it, all that was on her mind at the moment was the thought of her brother in law on that roof with nothing to defend himself and no way of escaping. He probably was feeling like a trapped animal. For the first time in a very long time Natalie felt the urge to pray for her brother in law's life, for his safety, for his health pray that he survives and isn't made into Biter food.

~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_~_TWD~_~~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_TWD~_~_~_~_~_

A/N: hope you enjoyed that and please, do not be afraid to review. I love reviews.

Quote/Poem:

Walt Whitman - Song of myself

Out of the dimness opposite equals advance, always substance and

increase, always sex,

Always a knit of identity, always distinction, always a breed of life.

To elaborate is no avail, learn'd and unlearn'd feel that it is so.

Sure as the most certain sure, plumb in the uprights, well entretied,

braced in the beams,

Stout as a horse, affectionate, haughty, electrical,

I and this mystery here we stand.

Clear and sweet is my soul, and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul.

Lack one lacks both, and the unseen is proved by the seen,

Till that becomes unseen and receives proof in its turn.


End file.
